By Kim Se-jeong
As delegates from Korea and the United States hold working-level talks in Seoul over the free trade agreement (FTA), Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Friday that Korea has an interest in renegotiating the automobile part of the agreement.
Speaking to a local radio station, Minister Kim said, “We have changed regulations on fuel efficiency, which I think can be reflected in the FTA through further negotiations.”
Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and his counterpart Ron Kirk will meet early next week with the aim to iron out all differences before President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the G20 Seoul Summit next week.
The U.S. wants Korea to accept American car safety and emission standards on vehicles that are imported here; and the U.S. car industry has called for reducing tax and regulatory barriers.
Kim, however, reassured that the renegotiations won’t require any modification to the original text of the agreement.
``The text of the agreement reflects the interests of both Korea and the U.S. in a considerably balanced way," he said.
Korea and the U.S. signed the FTA in 2007 but both have failed to have it ratified in their respective parliaments. Washington, in particular, has called for renegotiations in automobiles and beef.
The U.S. is asking Seoul to abolish limits on U.S. beef that enters the Korean market.
Korea allows beef from cattle that are less than 30 months old over fears of mad cow disease. The U.S. argues the disease is rare, with only three cases reported between 2003 and 2006.
Wendy Cutler, assistant U.S trade representative for Korea, Japan and APEC Affairs, arrived in Seoul and met with Korean Deputy Minister for Trade Choi Seok-young.
The JoongAng Ilbo quoted one anonymous Korean diplomat, who said, “We can’t reveal the content of the negotiations when they are underway, yet, we found their requests quite demanding.
During a phone conversation with Lee Monday, Obama asserted that differences be resolved before the summit.
Robert Gibbs, a White House spokesman, told reporters Thursday, “Whether it’s autos or whether it’s other issues, we know that we’ve got to make some progress. I think both sides are going to sit down and see if they can make some of that progress.”
He also said, “The president outlined the concerns that he had, both during the campaign in 2008 and just recently, with what he thinks has to be improved in an agreement that he can support and he can be a party to.”
Kim and Kirk met last week in San Francisco for the first time in almost six months, but failed to narrow the gap.
Bilateral trade between Korea and the U.S. reached $66.7 billion in 2009, making the U.S. one of Korea’s largest trading partners along with China and Japan.