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Korea delivered a reserve list of some 100 services to the U.S. on Thursday, the fourth day of their free-trade talks in Seoul. Areas it wants to keep out of a free trade agreement include public utilities such as communications and electricity, as well as broadcasting, law, mandatory elementary and middle school education and delivery services. Korea also wants to keep its optical market closed since opticians need a license here.
Korean chief negotiator Kim Jong-hoon told reporters Korea gave the U.S. a longer list of reserved service sectors than the one it gave Singapore in their FTA talks. However, the government did not disclose the reserve list proposed by the U.S. in return.
Seoul and Washington agreed to abolish tariffs on some 9,000 items other than agricultural and textile products over five phases. Tariffs on some items will be scrapped immediately the FTA goes into effect; some will go within three years; some within five years; some within 10 years; and tariffs on others will be removed 10 years after the FTA or will remain.
The two countries are in hairy negotiations over the timeframe for opening the agricultural and textile markets. They are to exchange three lists of general, agricultural and textile products subject to market opening in August.
The second round of free trade talks wraps up on Friday, and the third round starts in Washington in early September.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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