SEOUL, June 21: The United States proposed revisions on Thursday to parts of a hard-won free trade agreement to reflect Washington's new commerce guidelines at the start of renegotiations with South Korea, officials said.

The proposal came as Assistant US Trade Representative Wendy Cutler held two-day talks with her South Korean counterpart Kim Jong-Hoon, amid criticism in both countries of the original pact.

The deal was reached on April 2 after 10 months of tough negotiations. But Seoul accepted the US request for renegotiations to reflect the guidelines.

Washington wants changes after Congress and the White House agreed in May on a bipartisan accord that sets labour and environmental standards for such agreements.

“Today's meeting focused on checking the contents of the US proposal,” Lee Hye-Min, South Korea's deputy chief negotiator, told reporters, adding US officials wanted changes especially in labour and environmental rules.

Cutler told reporters on Wednesday that this week's negotiations would not alter the balance both sides achieved in the previous round. She said she was looking forward to a “productive negotiation.” The pact, the biggest for the US since the 1993 North America Free Trade Agreement, is expected to be signed on June 30 before US President George W. Bush's “fast-track” trade promotion authority expires.

It also needs ratification by the legislatures of both countries, whose two-way trade reached $74 billion in 2006.

South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon said on Thursday that Seoul would not accept any revisions that could hurt its interests.

“The deal reflected balanced interests of both nations. We have a firm position that our interests should be protected under any circumstances,” he told reporters.

The agreement has left many local workers and farmers fearing for their jobs. But it is supported by a majority of South Koreans, according to opinion polls.—AFP