S.Korea, US launch new round of FTA talks

South Korea and the United States launched their fourth round of free trade talks on Monday in South Korea's southern island of Jeju amid massive demonstration by South Korean prostesters.

During the negotiation on the Seoul-Washington free trade agreement (FTA), which is set to end on Friday, the two sides are expected to seek approach in the areas of agricultural products, textile, medicine and automobiles.

The U.S. side is "seeking to make progress in a number of areas that will provide important momentum for the talks," Stephen Norton, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative, told local media.

Another obstacle of the talks is whether the FTA covers the products made in the Inter-Korean Industrial Complex in Kaesong, a border city of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The United States, which was reluctant to recognize Kaesong-made products as originating from South Korea during the last three rounds FTA talks, was expected to take a harder stance on the issue after Pyongyang's nuclear test on Oct. 9.

Hundreds of South Koreans on Monday gathered outside a hotel where the negotiation is held to protest the FTA, shouting "No FTA " or "Down with FTA." Reports said brief clashes between protesters and riot police occurred but left no casualties.

The South Korean government deployed about 10,000 riot police around the negotiation area and blocked all major roads nearby with container boxes in case of protests. Earlier reports said some 5,000 peasants will stage massive demonstration against the FTA in Jeju during the S.Korean-U.S. talks.

Seoul and Washington launched the free trade talks in June and set no official deadline.

South Korea is the seventh-largest trading partner of the United States. In 2005, the bilateral trade between the two nations amount to 72 billion US dollars, with a South Korean trade surplus of 16 billion U.S. dollars.

Source: Xinhua