SKorea official warns FTA with US could collapse

A senior South Korean official warned Wednesday that the free trade deal with the United States could collapse if Washington "unilaterally" urges Seoul to revise it to reflect new US policy guidelines. "If the US demands South Korea renegotiate to reflect its unilateral view, we could break down the agreement," Kim Jong-Hoon, South Korea's chief negotiator in the talks, told Yonhap news agency in an interview.

"We couldn't one-sidedly accept a request to renegotiate the agreement that already reflects the balance of interests," Kim said. Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon separately ruled out changes to the accord struck last month after 10 months of tough negotiations. "The government has a firm stance that it is not an issue to be renegotiated," he told a weekly briefing.

Song said Washington had not yet proposed any changes. But US ambassador Alexander Vershbow told a forum Tuesday that work should be done to adapt the deal to reflect the new US trade policy. The two countries, whose two-way trade reached 74 billion dollars in 2006, reached the agreement in early April. It is awaiting legislative approval in Seoul and Washington.