Anchor: South Korea and the U.S. have begun talks to discuss possible revisions to their bilateral free trade agreement. The special session is being held upon the Trump administration’s request to address U.S. concerns about a trade deficit with South Korea.
Kim In-kyung has the details.
 
Report: Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and U.S. Trade Representative(USTR) Robert Lighthizer opened a meeting to discuss possible revisions to their bilateral free trade(FTA) agreement via a video conference on Tuesday morning. 

Following the video conference, which lasted for about 30 minutes, Kim told reporters that he had fully delivered South Korea's position to his U.S. counterpart. 
 
The video conference was followed by a face-to-face meeting of about 30 senior officials from the two sides, including USTR Chief of Staff Jamieson Greer. 

Kim told reporters that the outcome of this meeting is difficult to predict. He is set to give a related briefing in the afternoon after the closed-door meeting. 
 
The two sides are expected to assess each other’s positions in the first special joint committee meeting.

At a parliamentary trade committee meeting later in the day, Kim said the current KORUS FTA is favorable to South Korea and it would be better for the country to keep it as it is.

He was answering a question by Liberty Korea Party Rep. Yoon Han-hong, who asked whether the government would prefer to keep the treaty as it is or to revise it. 
 
Washington is calling for revisions to the trade pact citing a massive trade deficit, while South Korea believes that both sides have benefited from the FTA over the past five years.
 
Seoul will reportedly propose that the two sides hold a joint study to objectively examine and assess the effects of the FTA to decide whether the trade deficit is due to the deal.
 
Any revisions to the trade pact would require consent from both parties.
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.