hankyoreh

Angry farmers and activists on Tuesday caused a public hearing on ongoing talks between South Korea and the United States to sign a free trade agreement to be suspended.

The two nations began formal talks this month, and a second round of negotiations will be held from July 10 in Seoul. Both sides hope to wrap up the negotiations by March next year to ratify the deal before U.S. President George W. Bush's power to handle a free trade accord without amendments expires in July 2007.

However, the public hearing organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was interrupted by about 400 farmers and anti-free trade activists who staged a sit-in protest at the hearing site.

On Feb. 2, a government-organized public hearing was finally abandoned after protests from some 100 farmers. It wasn't immediately known whether the Tuesday's event will be resumed.

In an opening speech, Kim Jong-hoon, Seoul's top negotiator for the free trade talks, said an agreement with the U.S. would allow South Korea to nurture value-added industries through market opening and competition.

But Kim's speech was briefly interrupted when some farmers approached the podium, accusing the negotiator of playing a key role in opening the nation's rice market. During the brief disruption, minor scuffles erupted and slander was exchanged between the farmers and government officials.

During the one-day session, government officials plan to gather opinions from companies and individuals in four industrial sectors -- manufacturing, services, agriculture and others such as intellectual property rights, the ministry said in a statement.

The agricultural sector, especially rice, is one of the most difficult items on the negotiating table for the South Korea-U.S.

free trade talks, experts said.

South Korean farmers, about half of whom grow rice, have protested against the opening of the nation's rice market. However, U.S. trade officials have urged the South Korean government to drop its protective policy on the rice market.

Seoul, June 27 (Yonhap News)