In a stinging setback, the United States and South Korea failed to reach agreement on an elusive free-trade deal but will continue pressing for an accord in the weeks ahead, President Barack Obama said today.
Obama had hoped to announce a deal on the long-stalled pact while in South Korea for meetings of the Group of 20 economic powers, but instead he will return home empty-handed.
"We have asked our teams to work tirelessly in the coming days and weeks to get this completed," Obama said at a joint news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
"We don't want months to pass before we get this done," Obama said. "We want this to be done in a matter of weeks."
Prospects for reaching a deal seemed unlikely before Obama's meeting and subsequent appearance with Lee.
At issue is a pact to slash tariffs and other barriers to trade, one that was signed in 2007 when previous administrations were in power. It remains unratified by lawmakers in both countries, and trade between the nations has slipped. Sticking points include access to South Korea's market for American beef and autos. The US also wants the deal to address a trade imbalance before submitting it to Congress.
"The talks will continue. They have not stopped," Lee said. "We share the view that we need more time."
Ron Kirk, the US trade representative, rejected characterisations that failure to reach an agreement amounted to a setback for Obama, who suffered huge losses last week when Republicans won control of the House and increased their power in the Senate. Obama is on the third stop of a four-country visit to Asia and is seeking greater access to the region's markets for American goods, something he hopes will help spur job creation at home.
"The president's leadership on this has put us much closer to a successful closure," Kirk told reporters.
Kirk said Obama and Lee "wisely made the decision" to give the negotiators more time after it became clear that all the outstanding issues wouldn't be resolved in the final hours.
On North Korea, Obama said the reclusive communist nation must show a "seriousness of purpose" before the US will restart six-party talks aimed at curbing the country's drive to become a nuclear power. He said there would be "an appropriate time and place" to resume those negotiations, but offered no clarity on when that would be.
In a speech earlier in the day marking America's Veterans Day, Obama condemned North Korea for continuing on "a path of confrontation and provocation" that he says deepens its isolation from the world and worsens the poverty of its people.
