S. Korea's trade minister to urge ratification of KORUS FTA

SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean chief trade negotiator Kim Jong-hoon will
visit the United States May 18 to call for early ratification of the pending free
trade deal between the two countries, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.
During his two-day trip to Washington, Kim plans to give a speech to expedite the
ratification of the KORUS Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in a spate of conferences to
be hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Washington
International Trade Association, and the Korea-US Business Council, the ministry
said.
He is also scheduled to meet with high-ranking U.S. officials, including U.S.
Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
"While Kim's visit to the U.S. aims to check overall bilateral economic and trade
issues, he will take this trip as an opportunity to call for the expeditious
ratification of the KORUS FTA," ministry official Ahn Ho-young said.
Seoul and Washington signed the free trade deal in June 2007, but the
legislatures of both nations have yet to ratify it.
Meanwhile, the official signing of the free trade deal between Korea and the
European Union is unlikely to take place this month as planned due to the
longer-than-expected process of translating and double-checking the document,
Ahn said.
Last year, both sides initialed the deal after two years of negotiations. The
deal must be approved by South Korea's National Assembly and head of the EU's 27
member states in order to take effect.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
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