Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon dismissed opposition parties’ call for the renegotiation of Korea’s free trade agreement with the United States.

“Calls for renegotiation are unrealistic at present as both sides are in earnest moving toward its ratification,” Kim said, speaking at a forum organized by the Korea Employers Federation on Thursday.

Korea and the United States signed a free trade agreement in June 2007 and the two sides modified the pact in December, mainly focusing on automobile trade.

The two countries are waiting for legislative approval and officials from Seoul and Washington have indicated that the pact will be ratified next month.

But the main opposition Democratic Party in Korea has demanded that the government reopen negotiations with Washington, claiming that the FTA fell short of reflecting a balance of interests and that more support measures for Korea’s agricultural and other sectors was urgently needed.

The opposition party’s demand is tantamount to “let’s give up the FTA,” the trade minister said.

He stressed the need for Korea to raise its market shares in the United States in order to strengthen the nation’s competitiveness in other countries, saying the market shares have stayed around 2.5 percent for the past five years

Some think tanks in Korea predict that if the deal takes effect, South Korea will see its gross domestic product expand by an additional 5.66 percent in the long term.

By Lee Dong-hoon, Intern reporter (tdyasoow@hotmail.com)