S. Koreas makes progress in FTA talks with U.S.: official

South Korea and the United States have made progress in cutting tariffs on industrial goods, boosting the chances of a breakthrough in their slow-moving free trade agreement (FTA) talks, the local news agency Yonhap reported Wednesday.

"We've completed a review of a new U.S. offer to reduce tariffs on some 1,000 industrial goods and made some progress," Lee Hae- min, deputy chief of the South Korean delegation, was quoted as saying after the morning session.

The fourth round of FTA talks between South Korea and the United States was launched on Monday in South Korea's southern island of Jeju, aiming to seek approach in the areas of agricultural products, textile, medicine and automobiles.

On Tuesday, the U.S. tabled a revised proposal to "immediately" remove tariffs on as many as 1,000 industrial goods. In total, the proposed free trade accord covers some 10,000 items.

Among the 1,000 industrial items under review, auto parts, flat- panel television sets, toys and shoes are a matter of keen South Korean interest. An apparent lack of U.S. willingness to make concessions in this area had prompted South Korean officials to walk out of one committee handling the matter on the first day of talks on Monday.

"There was a substantial change in the U.S. position," chief South Korean delegate Kim Jong-hoon said of a new U.S. proposal tabled a day earlier, as he headed into the third day of talks on Wednesday.

There was no U.S. explanation about the change in its position but analysts believed that it was an effort to lead South Korea to make concessions as well in agriculture, service and other areas, in which the U.S. has a competitive edge.

Both sides have time and again said they should conclude the talks by the end of this year so that each side's legislature can ratify the deal before June 30, when U.S. President George W.

Bush's "fast-track" trade authority expires.

South Korea is the seventh largest U.S. trading partner. For South Korea, the U.S. is its 2nd largest export market after China.

Source: Xinhua