Eighty-eight U.S. congressmen last Friday wrote to the White House calling for prompt ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA).

The letter was signed by 44 congressmen from each party at the initiative of Adam Smith and Dave Reichert. "We urge you to prepare the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement for congressional consideration," they wrote. U.S. President Barack Obama is to visit Seoul on Nov. 18. "We are concerned about the potential impact on U.S. competitiveness and jobs by not moving forward" on the FTA, the lawmakers wrote.

The letter was signed by 36 members of the New Democratic Coalition and Blue Dog Coalition, the fraternities of middle-of-the-road Democrats. It was also signed by many Republican leaders including Eric Cantor, the minority whip in Congress.