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SEOUL: A free trade pact with the United States will help South Korea weather tough economic times ahead, the Seoul government said Thursday, as political opponents vowed to block the deal.
"At a time when the global economy is about to end its decade of prosperity and move into a difficult phase, the deal will provide a good chance to tackle the difficulties," Finance Minister Kang Man-Soo told a meeting.
The free trade agreement (FTA) signed last June is the greatest achievement of the previous liberal government, Kang was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.
Liberal legislators now threaten to block ratification of the FTA unless the current conservative government renegotiates a separate beef import deal with the US.
The reopening of Seoul's market to US beef is one of the preconditions for US approval of the trade pact.
On the eve of President Lee Myung-Bak's first summit with President George W. Bush last month, the two sides signed the deal opening up the beef market in hopes of pushing along the wider trade pact.
But the move backfired in Korea, where tens of thousands in total have staged a series of candlelit protest rallies.
Rumours spread by the Internet and mobile phone texting claim the imports carry the danger of the human form of mad cow disease, even though Seoul and Washington insist the risk is virtually non-existent.
On Wednesday the agriculture ministry announced it would delay the resumption of US beef imports by seven to 10 days to give it time to consider all the protest petitions.
US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez was due in South Korea late Thursday and was expected to speak out strongly in favour of the FTA.
"The US-Korea Free Trade Agreement is the most economically significant agreement that the United States has negotiated in years, and will allow our two nations to stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive global economy," he has said in a statement.
Total trade between South Korea and the US is worth an annual 80 billion US dollars and some studies show this could eventually rise by up to 20 billion US dollars under a free trade regime. - AFP/ac
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