hankyoreh

Ahead of a crucial round of free trade agreement (FTA) talks with the United States, South Korea's trade minister said Wednesday that his country will show "maximum flexibility" for the successful conclusion of the negotiations as early as possible.

In a report to a parliamentary committee, Kim Hyun-chong said he would not be surprised even if some issues would still remain unresolved after this week's round of talks, the eighth since last June.

"If there is a small number of unresolved issues during the eighth round, both sides will make a final compromise through high-level discussions by the end of March," Kim said in a statement.

Kim's upbeat comments indicated that South Korea was ready to compromise on some contentious issues, including anti-dumping remedies, automobile, pharmaceuticals, intellectual property rights and farm products.

In a meeting with visiting U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun again stressed that an FTA with the U.S. will boost his country's export-driven economy.

"The South Korea-U.S. FTA was a politically difficult choice," Roh was quoted by his spokesman Kim Jeong-seop as telling Paulson.

"But, the pact will increase the competitiveness of our economy in the long term." Paulson said he has concerns that the proposed FTA would be acceptable for U.S. stakeholders, including Congress and industry workers. South Korea has similar concerns.

U.S. negotiators have until April 2 to submit a deal for a mandatory 90-day congressional review before a yes-or-no vote without amendments under U.S. President George W. Bush's "fast-track" trade promotion authority, which expires on July 1.

Earlier, Paulson met with his South Korean counterpart, Kwon O-kyu, and agreed to actively cooperate for an early conclusion of the negotiations, South Korea's Finance Ministry said.

"Since the proposed FTA is very important for the future of the two economies, both governments agreed to actively cooperate for a successful conclusion of negotiations as early as possible," a ministry statement said.

The stakes are high for the two economies, which did US$74 billion in two-way trade in 2006. Some studies show that an FTA would increase trade volume by 20 percent.

South Korea's officials have already hinted that both sides would need one more round of talks in the week of March 19 before concluding the talks. U.S. officials say they need at least two weeks to put all agreements into a written format.

Meanwhile, farmers and other anti-globalization activists said they planned to stage street protests against the FTA talks in Seoul slated to start on Thursday.

"We will hold a series of peaceful protests to raise our voices against the proposed Korea-U.S. FTA," said Chae Hee-byeong, a spokesman for the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA, which comprises labor, farm and social groups.

Past anti-FTA protests often flared into violence.
Seoul, March 7 (Yonhap News)