[News Briefing] KORUS FTA renegotiations resume

Posted on : 2010-11-29 14:21 KST Modified on : 2010-11-29 14:21 KST

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk will hold two-day talks on a bilateral free trade agreement in Columbia near Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday to narrow differences on auto and beef-related issues, according to South Korea‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Sunday.
The two sides failed to finalize their renegotions of the KORUS FTA by a deadline of the recent G-20 Summit in Seoul set by both Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Barack Obama.
The U.S. will reportedly request South Korea to abolish the tariffs on U.S. exported beef earlier and open the market to U.S. processed beef products. It also appears that the U.S. will repeat its demand of more concessions from South Korea in auto issues including the extension of 2.5 percent-tariff abolition deadline on South Korean cars, the total abolition of duty drawbacks, adoption of safeguards and an easing environmental regulations.
  
Journalists asked to evacuate
South Korea’s Ministry of Defense ordered on Sunday all journalists covering the Yeonpyeong Island attack by North Korea to leave by the end of Sunday through its official document sent to media outlets.
“At this stage, it is unpredictable what kind of a provocative action North Korea will take using the South Korean-U.S. joint drills as a justification,” the ministry said. South Korea’s military “cannot guarantee” the safety of journalists in the event of another provocation by North Korea, it emphasized. It prepared boats for the evacuation of journalists, but failed to evacuate them due to inclimate weather and the refusal of some journalists.
 
S. Korean army mistakenly fires a shell into DMZ
An artillery shot accidentally fired by a South Korean artillery unit in the middle of military drill fell on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Sunday afternoon, military officials said.
No casualties were reported from the accidental discharge of 155mm towed howitzer took place in an artillery unit of South Korean Army 1 Division stationed in the border town of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, the officials said. During the drill of developing its countermeasure ability against North Korea’s sudden attack like on Yeonpyeong Island, an artillery soldier mistakenly fired a shell that landed near Daeseong neighborhood, a civilian village on the southern side of the DMZ.
  
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