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U.S., South Korea Meet for Trade Talks NewsMax.com Wires SEOUL, South Korea -- Top U.S. and South Korean negotiators met Monday for a second round of talks on a free-trade agreement amid heavy security and expected large demonstrations against the proposal.
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler and her South Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-hoon, kicked off the talks by shaking hands and exchanging greetings in a conference room at a Seoul hotel with riot police deployed outside.
The first round was held last month in Washington. The two sides aim to wrap up the free-trade agreement, or FTA, by the end of this year so they can submit it to their legislatures for debate.
The proposal faces strong resistance from South Korean labor groups, especially farmers who have protested against any reduction in protections for agriculture, particularly rice. The U.S. wants more access to South Korea's agriculture market. Story Continues Below
The South Korean government on Friday vowed stern measures if violence breaks out at demonstrations planned this week in conjunction with the talks.
Police expect about 50,000 protesters to take to the streets this week, while groups opposed to the talks hoped for numbers to top 100,000. The National Police Agency was mobilizing some 20,000 officers.
Major demonstrations are scheduled for Wednesday, including a partial strike by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the county's two major labor organizations.
The free-trade proposal has been drawing regular protests in South Korea since even before the two governments announced in February that they would enter the negotiations.
If successful, they would be the biggest such accord for the U.S. since the North American Free-Trade Agreement of 1993.
The governments are under a tight deadline. President George W. Bush's authority to "fast track" the trade deal - enabling U.S. envoys to negotiate an agreement that he can submit to Congress for a yea-or-nay vote without amendments - runs out in mid-2007.
Besides agriculture, the status of a South Korea-backed industrial zone in North Korea is seen as another major sticking point in hammering out an accord.
South Korea wants goods produced there subject to the agreement, while Washington has adamantly opposed the idea.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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