USTR wants KORUS FTA ratified without change: sources

SEOUL, April 12 (Yonhap) -- The office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) wants a free trade pact with South Korea to be ratified without renegotiation, unlike the U.S. Democrats who are calling for an amendment, sources here said Sunday.

The two countries concluded their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), called
the KORUS FTA, in 2007, but U.S. ratification has been delayed reportedly due to
opposition from President Barack Obama and Democrats controlling Congress.
According to Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the office of Rep.
Hong Jung-wook, a ruling party lawmaker, the U.S. trade journal "Inside U.S.
Trade" reported Friday, "Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Danny Sepulveda had
told business representatives that it is the intent of USTR to address
outstanding issues on the pending free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and
South Korea without renegotiating their texts."
However, there was no comment on the timetable for the U.S. ratification of the
FTA with South Korea, the ministry said.
It is the first time that the U.S. trade office has expressed its position there
is no need to reopen the texts of the KORUS FTA. Last month, the nominee for U.S.
trade representative said the KORUS FTA is not acceptable as it stands.
Ahead of his election late last year, Obama labeled the deal "badly flawed,"
saying it does too little to narrow a huge trade imbalance in South Korea's
favor, especially in auto trade.
In January, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also cited the imbalance in
the auto trade during her confirmation hearing.
South Korea has strongly ruled out revisiting the pact, which cleared a
parliamentary subcommittee in February despite strong opposition from opposition
parties.
If ratified, the FTA, touted as the biggest ever for South Korea, will knock down
tariff and non-tariff barriers between the two economies, whose two-way trade
reached US$78.4 billion in 2007.
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