South Korea has accepted a US request to add new labour and environmental provisions to a trade deal they reached in April and will sign the pact by a Saturday deadline, the prime minister said.
South Korean and US negotiators held two rounds of talks in the past week on adding the provisions into what would be the biggest US trade deal in 15 years, aiming to ensure it wins congressional approval.
"The US proposal, reflecting its new trade policy, does not add much of a burden on our side in substantive terms," Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told a forum on Friday. An official at Han's office quoted him as saying he believed Seoul's acceptance would improve the prospects for the deal in Congress.
The deal, which is supported by the majority of South Korea's public, is likely to be approved by parliament, analysts said. South Korea joins Peru, Colombia, Panama, all of which have trade deals in various states of play with the United States, in accepting Washington's demands to include the provisions on environmental protection and labour standards in their pacts.
Congressional Democrats reached a deal with the White House in May that paved the way for approval of the Republican Bush administration's free trade deals if the provisions were added. The standards are already being enforced in South Korea and are compatible with its policy, Han was quoted as saying.
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