The two countries are trying to resolve concerns raised by US
auto and beef industries that are blocking congressional approval of the pact
that some studies said could boost their $78 billion trade by as much as a
quarter.
The agreement was signed more than three years ago, and is
the largest signed by the United States since the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) that went into force in 1984.
"The two leaders pledged on a telephone call to work to
agree on FTA before the G20 summit as a role model of promoting free trade in
the world and upgrading the alliance between the two countries," Lee's
office said in a statement.
The White House said on Monday that negotiators would put
"maximum effort" to resolve US concerns on autos and beef by the time
Obama goes to Seoul. The pair are due to meet on the sidelines of the summit on
Nov. 11.
Some US lawmakers have said the deal does not do enough to
open South Korea's auto and beef markets. Sales of US autos have lagged behind
European and Japanese cars despite imported brands' growing acceptance in the
market that is home to the world's number-five carmaker, Hyundai Motor.
South Korean officials have rejected the idea of reworking
the deal, saying it already offers a balanced way of expanding bilateral trade
that benefits both sides.
Prime Minister Kim Hwang-shik told Parliament on Tuesday
that the bottom line for South Korea is there cannot be any revision or
renegotiation of the deal that has already been signed.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron will visit
China next week with a delegation of ministers before attending the G20 summit,
his spokesman said on Tuesday.
It will be the Conservative leader's first visit to China
since he took office in May. He visited India earlier this year with a
delegation of ministers and businessmen.
Cameron updated his Cabinet of Conservative and Liberal
Democrat ministers about the China trip during a routine meeting, the spokesman
told reporters.
"There was a discussion about China and the trip next
week which is going to be attended by a number of cabinet ministers," the
spokesman said.
In a related development, China is ready to work with other
countries to achieve balanced economic growth and will seek to perfect its
exchange rate system to increase the flexibility of its yuan currency,
President Hu Jintao told the French daily Le Figaro in an interview published
on Monday.
Hu, who will discuss global economic issues with President
Nicolas Sarkozy during a Nov. 4-6 state visit to France, was quoted by Le
Figaro as saying it was important to promote fair, balanced trade by fighting
protectionism.
"In the future we will continue to perfect, according
to the principles of autonomy, controllability and progressiveness, our
floating and regulated exchange rate system to make the laws of supply and
demand work better and increase the yuan's flexibility, to maintain a relative
stability of our currency at a fair and balanced level," Hu was quoted as
saying.
He said China's exchange rate policy was "coherent and
responsible", adding: "We have always worked to advance the reform of
the mechanism of the yuan exchange rate."
Sarkozy is keen to engage China in global talks on economic
imbalances and currency fluctuations when France takes over the presidency of
the Group of 20 economic powers following a Nov. 10-12 summit of G20 leaders in
Seoul.
China holds the world's biggest foreign currency reserves,
having accumulated vast amounts of US dollars and euro assets, leading to
criticism by US officials that Beijing holds the yuan artificially low against
the dollar to support exports.
Asked what China expected to come out of the Seoul summit,
Hu said he expected progress in four areas: Reinforcing economic policy
coordination; pushing for a reform of the global financial system and
reinforcing market regulation; working on global imbalances and fighting
protectionism.
"To correct trade imbalances, the parties concerned
must transform their mode of development, restructure their economies and
promote fair and balanced trade by fighting any form of protectionism," Hu
said.
The United States, which runs a huge trade deficit with
China, has played down expectations for major progress on resolving imbalances.
