U.S., S. Korea talks to continue

U.S. negotiator in South Korea says free trade talks may go into next year

SEOGWIPO, South Korea (AP)--Tough free-trade talks with South Korea may drag into 2007, the chief U.S. negotiator said Oct. 23, as thousands of demonstrators called for the deal to be scrapped.

"We are still trying to conclude this agreement by the end of this year or early next year," U.S. Assistant Trade Representative Wendy Cutler told reporters after the two sides started their fourth-round of negotiations since June.

The United States and South Korea are seeking a deal that officials say will boost economic growth by lowering tariffs and opening markets between the world's largest and 10th-largest economies.

Both Washington and Seoul have said they wanted to reach a basic agreement by the end of 2006, but the two sides have achieved few breakthroughs in three previous rounds.

The stakes are high. The accord, if achieved, would be the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993.

"We have $72 billion in two-way trade so it's only natural that there are a lot of issues at hand to be negotiated and, frankly, a lot of concerns and sensitivities on both sides that need to be addressed," Cutler said.

Cutler and her South Korean counterpart, veteran trade diplomat Kim Jong-hoon, kicked off the latest round with a handshake earlier in the day at a hotel in Seogwipo, a city on the southern resort island of Jeju.

The talks, scheduled through Oct. 27, brought a variety of protests to the mountainous island's beaches, casinos and tangerine groves, with demonstrators shouting slogans and carrying banners against the proposed deal.

Police estimated about 11,000 demonstrators took part in an incident at the island's convention center, about 2 miles from the hotel venue for the talks.

At a separate protest in the morning, about 50 people clashed with police as they tried to enter the grounds of the hotel after the talks started.

The July round in Seoul was met by large street protests.

South Korean rice and beef farmers, in particular, have opposed a deal, saying cheaper U.S. products would jeopardize their livelihoods.

In an effort to push the talks forward, Cutler said the U.S. made new offers Monday calling for shorter time frames for tariff reductions covering more than $1 billion each in industrial goods and textiles as well as $135 million in agricultural goods.

"We have submitted these offers in an effort to spur progress this week in the talks," Cutler said. "But we can't make progress alone."

Date: 11/22/06

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