South Korea and the United States will begin talks next Tuesday to discuss possible revisions to their five-year-old bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), trade authorities of the two countries said Thursday.

The discussion comes months after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would either renegotiate or terminate what he called a "job killing" and "horrible" deal.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Korean trade representative Kim Hyun-chong and his U.S. counterpart Robert Lighthizer will open the meeting via a video conference on Aug. 22, which will be followed by additional senior-level discussions between U.S. and Korean officials in Seoul.

Senior USTR officials who will visit Seoul for the discussion include Jamieson Greer, USTR Chief of Staff, and Michael Beeman, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (AUSTR) for Japan, Korea and APEC. Lighthizer will not be present in Seoul due to prior commitment.

On July 12, Washington sent a letter to Seoul, requesting a plan for the special session meeting of the Joint Committee under the U.S.-Korea (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement.

As announced in its response sent on Jul. 24, the Korean government said it will emphasize in the session that the FTA has benefited both sides in trade, investment and employment since it went into force in 2012 and discuss the best way to jointly measure and evaluate the effect of the bilateral pact as objectively as possible.

By Ko Jae-man

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