South Korea warns free trade deal with U.S. could end over rice market

South Korea warned Monday a potential free trade agreement with the United States could fail if Washington pushes to include rice in the deal.

"The negotiations may collapse if the FTA fails to meet our expectations or the U.S. demands rice concessions, which our side cannot accept," Kim Jong-hoon, Seoul's chief negotiator, told reporters as the two sides began a round of high-level talks aimed at clinching a deal by the end of this month. "We made it clear we will deal resolutely with such a situation."

Seoul and Washington need to wrap up the agreement by March 31 because of the approaching end of U.S. President George W. Bush's Trade Promotion Authority, which allows him to send trade agreements to Congress for straight yes-or-no votes without amendments.