U.S., South Korea resume trade talks

The United States and South Korea resumed negotiations Monday for a free trade agreement, the International Herald Tribune newspaper reported.

The reported said both governments emphasized that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s announcement of a nuclear test on Oct. 9 highlighted the need to shore up their military alliance with a free trade agreement.

South Korea is the United States' seventh largest trading partner, with two-way trade reaching 72 billion dollars last year. For South Korea, the United States is its second largest export market, after China.

Washington and Seoul began negotiating in June on what was billed as the largest free trade deal for the United States since the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed with Canada and Mexico in 1993.

A U.S.-South Korean agreement would energize South Korea's export-driven economy while giving American goods bigger access to South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, experts and officials said.

Source: Xinhua