Obama says free-trade deal with South Korea "a matter of weeks"

Obama says free-trade deal with South Korea "a matter of weeks"

2010-11-11 15:40:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

SEOUL (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday said the United States and Korea have not reached a deal on a free-trade agreement with South Korea, but will continue pressing for an accord "in a matter of weeks."

During a joint news conference with South Korean president Lee Myung-bak, Obama said both leaders "have asked teams to work tirelessly in the coming days and weeks to get this completed, and we are confident that we will do so."

" And President Lee in fact asked his team to come to Washington in the near future to continue these discussions. So I appreciate all the efforts that he’s making on this issue," Obama said.

According to Obama, the free-trade deal would increase the export of American goods by some $10 billion, and billions more in services, supporting more than 70,000 jobs in the United States.

According to South Korean media, trade ministers almost saw the negotiations collapse because the U.S. demanded for expanding beef exports to South Korea.

Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk also sparred over inequity in automotive trade.

"My trade minister as well as the U.S. Trade Representative have been engaged in extensive discussions, but President Obama and I agreed that we need to give them a bit more time so that they can iron out the technical issues between themselves," said President Lee.

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