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 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea warned Monday that negotiations to reach a free trade agreement with the United States under a deadline just days away 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. "We made it clear we will deal resolutely with such a situation."
Seoul and Washington need to wrap up an agreement by March 31 due to various legal requirements related to the approaching end on July 1 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.
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