S. Korea, U.S. trade chiefs hold first face-to-face meeting over trade deal
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- The top trade negotiators of South Korea and the United States held their first face-to-face meeting in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the future of the countries' free trade agreement (FTA), both sides said.
The talks between South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer came as Washington seeks to amend the five-year-old deal known as KORUS.
In this photo provided by South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, trade negotiators from South Korea and the U.S. hold their first meeting on a possible amendment to the bilateral free trade agreement in Seoul on Aug. 22, 2017. (Yonhap)
"They discussed ways to move forward," a USTR spokesperson told Yonhap, noting the talks followed the first such session in Seoul last month. During that meeting, Kim and Lighthizer spoke via video.
The two sides agreed not to disclose further details of Wednesday's meeting, according to a South Korean government official.
Washington has blamed KORUS for its growing trade deficit with Seoul. But South Korea argues the deficit is due to macroeconomic factors and the agreement has benefited both sides.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called KORUS a "horrible" deal and threatened to pull out of it.
But any plan for a withdrawal has been apparently put on hold in the wake of North Korea's sixth nuclear test earlier this month.
Kim came to the U.S. partly to accompany President Moon Jae-in to the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week.
hague@yna.co.kr
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