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The United States remains committed to negotiating all outstanding issues toward a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea, including the sensitive auto, pharmaceutical and trade remedy sectors, senior American trade officials said Friday.

"We have made quite clear to Korean authorities, including discussions we had quite recently, we want to achieve a successful resolution of this FTA," Karan Bhatia, deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), told reporters.

"We have indicated to South Korean counterparts that we need to engage on all remaining outstanding issues in order to bring this to a successful conclusion," he said.

South Korea and the U.S. began FTA talks roughly a year ago, giving themselves a tight schedule to wrap up the trade pact that would eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to goods and services between the two countries.

They are working against a deadline of the end of March in order to get U.S. congressional endorsement while the trade promotion authority is in effect. The authority requires the Congress to vote yes or no on the FTA without seeking amendments, and it expires in July this year.

U.S. negotiators have been pushing hard on the auto issue, dissatisfied at the trade figures heavily skewed in South Korea's favor. They have also lodged a complaint against Seoul's new drug reimbursement policy that the U.S. says could discriminate against American manufacturers.

South Korea, on the other hand, has been demanding revisions to the U.S. trade remedy laws, such as anti-dumping and countervailing duties, that often affect businesses exporting to the U.S.

Bhatia named these three sectors as "remaining chapters." "It's going to have to be a win-win resolution... both sides need to accomplish gains, and both sides are going to need to respect each other's sensitivities," Bhatia said.

Sean Spicer, USTR spokesman, said the U.S. was ready to work hard but there were issues that need to be settled.

"All I would say is that we are not going to rush to get this done for the sake of getting it done," he told reporters.

"There are some serious, important issues for our industries, several of our industries, that we are not just going to walk away (from)," he said.

"Every negotiation, including the Korean FTA, is done on the basis of substance."

Washington, Feb. 2 (Yonhap News)