South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Friday the government will not renegotiate with the United States on the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Yu made the comment while addressing the National Assembly, as a clarification to a remark President Lee Myung-bak made at a joint press conference with visiting U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday, saying that he sought an opportunity to re-discuss the opening of his country's automobile market with the United States.
Lee said "such a view came as I had sufficient communication with President Obama, and I want to push for it in an aggressive manner as it would benefit both of the countries."
With respect to Lee's remarks, South Korean media were heated as it could imply that South Korea may go through negotiation process with the United States again.
Yu said the president was not referring to a renegotiation but was taking an offensive stance on the United States for raising issues with the FTA's auto provisions.
He stressed that there will be no renegotiations, even if Washington requests.
Meanwhile, the country's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said on Friday there will be no any changes to the South Korea-U.S. FTA.
A Cheong Wa Dae official told Yonhap News Agency that the president's remark was not referring to modifying the agreement, but means it could be slightly fine-tuned, such as adding some content to the annex.
Another official in charge of diplomatic and security affairs said "If we rewrite the document, that is a renegotiation. It is the government's policy that we will not change the agreement."
There is no precedent for modifying a FTA that has been already reached between two countries, he noted.
If Seoul has to discuss the issue in the auto sector with the United States, Seoul will also propose additional discussions on the agricultural sector which suffers great pressure from public opinion in the country, he added.
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