SEOUL, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The latest round of free trade talks between South Korea and the United States ended on Friday with no major progress to tear down trade barriers between the two markets.
Wrapping up the tough five-day talks in Seoul, negotiators from the two sides admitted they failed to produce major progress, but said this week's talks have paved the way for reaching a crucial breakthrough in the second round slated for next month.
However, skepticism is also growing as many thorny issues remain unresolved, with fierce protests by farmers, anti-globalization activists and pro-labor lawmakers here.
In a press conference in a Seoul hotel at the end of the talks, South Korea's chief negotiator Kim Jong-hoon said there was no progress made on key issues.
Throughout the sixth round of talks that opened Monday, negotiators from the two allied countries struggled to bridge contentious gaps in disputed sectors, such as U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing rules, and opening of South Korea's auto, drug and beef markets.
After five days of haggling, the two sides left major disagreements off the agenda in an effort to agree on less sticky issues first, which made it possible to reach a virtual agreement in the industrial tariff area and the environment sector.
"I can say we have nearly completed framing an agreement on the sector of industrial goods," said Lee Hye-min, Seoul's deputy chief negotiator.
South Korea and the United States have agreed to remove tariffs over the next 10 years on about 99 percent of a total of 15,494 items to be covered by the proposed free trade deal, Lee said.
Tariffs will be phased out on other items within five years, including liquid crystal display panels, computer monitors and digital televisions, which are of interest to South Korea, Asia's leading technology giant.
A leaked South Korean government report has suggested the country may retract its long-running demand for Washington to revise its anti-dumping laws for South Korean goods to be covered under the free trade accord, raising hope for an upcoming breakthrough.
At the end of the talks, chief U.S. negotiator Wendy Cutler said this week's negotiations were the "toughest ever" but the two sides made "major progress."
Meeting reporters, she voiced optimistic view, saying negotiations were moving into a "final phase."
"I'm optimistic and I will keep my eyes on success and do everything I can to achieve that objective," she said.
Cutler also said she found "a new mood in the spirit of intensity" in the eight-month-long negotiations aimed at slashing tariffs and other barriers on a wide range of goods and services. "We will look to make as much progress as possible between now and the seventh round of negotiations," she said.
The two sides will meet again in Washington in a seventh round of discussions seen as crucial to reach breakthrough before early April.
The two countries, which launched FTA talks in Washington in early June, hope to wrap up the negotiations by the end of March, three months before U.S. President George W. Bush's power to sign trade deals without being subject to congressional amendment expires on July 1, 2007.
Many analysts here forecast tough negotiations in the next round to make a compromise on thorny issues, such as anti-dumping remedies, cars and beef. They stress the need for "higher-level" negotiations to reach a comprehensive package deal.
Farmer and anti-globalization activists vowed to make all-out efforts to block the proposed free trade deal with the United States, saying the opening of local markets would destroy local industries and wipe out livelihoods.
