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Updated Wednesday, October 21, 2009 11:06 am TWN, AP

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S. Korea-EU deal could push U.S.: group

SEOUL -- Progress between South Korea and the European Union in realizing their free trade agreement could serve as a catalyst to restore momentum to a stalled deal between the United States and Seoul, the head of a U.S. business group said.

“I hope that the initialing of the Korea-EU FTA ... will light a fire under policy makers in Washington,” Amy Jackson, the new president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea told reporters Monday.

South Korea and the U.S. signed a landmark accord in June 2007 to slash tariffs and other barriers to trade, but the deal has languished in political limbo in both countries, where it awaits legislative ratification.

In the meantime, the European Union has played catch-up in the race to secure closer trade ties with South Korea, one of Asia's leading economies. The two sides last week initialed their free trade agreement in Brussels, though it still awaits official signing and final ratification. They began negotiations in May 2007, about a month after Washington and Seoul concluded theirs.

Jackson, a former U.S. trade official with a focus on Japan and South Korea, said that pessimism regarding the South Korea-U.S. deal was unwarranted, though she added that further talks between the two sides were necessary to iron out issues in the automotive sector.

“The chances that (the agreement) will not be ratified are zero,” she said.

Standing in the way of progress were President Barack Obama's need to deal with the global economic crisis, efforts to seek approval for his health care reform plans and the administration's desire for further talks with South Korea on the auto sector, she said.

Wendy Cutler, the U.S. trade official who negotiated the hard-fought deal with Seoul, told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday that automakers have concerns and that the administration is trying to find ways to address them. She said Washington hopes to begin talks with Seoul soon about an ongoing U.S. review of the agreement.

The United States Trade Representative said Monday it was paying close attention to the South Korea-EU deal.

“USTR will carefully consider this agreement as it continues its review” of the South Korea-U.S. pact, USTR spokeswoman Carol Guthrie said in a release in Washington.

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