South Korea rules out renegotiating trade pact with US
Posted: 22 January 2009 1329 hrs

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SEOUL: South Korea's trade minister Thursday ruled out renegotiating a free trade agreement with the United States despite calls by the new US administration for changes in the pact.

The comments came a day after the inauguration of President Barack Obama, who has called the deal "badly flawed" and charged it does too little to narrow a huge imbalance in the auto trade in Seoul's favour.

"Even if the US proposes renegotiations of the free trade deal, we don't need to respond to it," Minister Kim Jong-Hoon told a KBS radio show.

The agreement signed in 2007 awaits ratification by both countries' legislatures.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cited an imbalance in the auto trade during her confirmation hearing this month.

In written responses to questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she said the pact gives South Korean auto exports "essentially untrammelled access" to the US, while the US would have no leverage to break down Seoul's non-tariff barriers.

"If the South Koreans are willing to re-engage negotiations on these vital provisions of the agreement, we will work with them to get to resolution," she said.

South Korea shipped about 700,000 cars to the US in 2007 while importing 5,000 American cars, official figures show.

Some analysts say the figures are misleading, since they exclude more than 125,000 vehicles made by a General Motors subsidiary in Korea while including vehicles made by a Hyundai plant in Alabama.

"If the US automakers want to increase their market share in South Korea, the KORUS FTA (Korea-US Free Trade Agreement) will be a good opportunity for them," Kim said. "All the things they have sought for years are included in the pact."

The trade pact would be the largest for the US since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in 1994.

US-South Korea trade was worth US$78.4 billion in 2007.

- AFP/yb