US and South Korean negotiators are wrestling with issues on automobiles and agricultural products, including opening up the market for rice and beef, during their US$29 billion free-trade talks, South Korea's chief negotiator said.
"I think we will negotiate on agriculture and automobiles until the very end," Ambassador Kim Jong-hoon told reporters yesterday during a press luncheon.
Still, Kim said he expected the two governments to be able to conclude a free-trade accord by the end of this month, as scheduled.
Meanwhile, police in South Korea said yesterday they were questioning 10 protesters after violent street demonstrations against ongoing free trade talks.
Riot police late on Saturday clashed with 3,000 protesters, including farmers and students who rallied in downtown Seoul in defiance of a police ban on the demonstrations.
Some protesters kicked and punched the riot police who used water cannon, shields and batons to disperse the demonstrators, police said.
US and South Korean negotiators have been locked in talks since Thursday aimed at reaching what would be the biggest free trade agreement since 1993.
However, the protesters say it threatens their jobs and industries.
"Ten protesters are still in custody for questioning" over the violence, a Seoul police spokesman said.
Seven officers were hurt in the clashes, he added. Witnesses said civilians, including protesters and some journalists, were injured by riot police.
Negotiators of the US and South Korea, in free trade talks since last June, missed their original goal of completing the talks last year and must conclude an accord by the end of this month to get the deal to their respective legislatures by April 2 for a 90-day review before US President George W. Bush's "fast-track" trade promotion authority expires on July 1.
An agreement could boost US exports to South Korea by US$19 billion, with a US$10 billion jump in shipments the other way, according to the US International Trade Commission.
The US delegation, led by Assistant US Trade Representative Wendy Cutler, wants South Korea to lower taxes on agricultural products and allow them to send more rice to South Korea, while Seoul has said the subject of rice is off the negotiating table.
The US also wants South Korea to lower taxes on automobiles with larger engines, the types of cars that Ford Motor Co and DaimlerChrysler AG want to export to South Korea.
The two sides have agreed on three chapters of the accord during this eighth and final round of negotiations which end tomorrow; one on competition laws, another on government procurement and the remaining one on customs regulations. They have to conclude negotiations on 15 other different areas.
The final agreement will be unveiled "six to eight weeks" after the accord is handed to the US Congress and the South Korean National Assembly, Kim said.
The free-trade agreement, if ratified, would be the biggest for the US since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
South Korea has already signed free-trade agreements with Chile, Singapore and the European Free Trade Association, consisting of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. It is in negotiations with Canada and Japan and in discussions with India, and is examining deals with China and the EU.
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