President Lee, opposition leader agree to hold talks next week

President Lee Myung-bak will meet with opposition leader Sohn Hak-kyu next week for talks on the free trade agreement with the United States, college tuitions and other contentious issues, both sides said Tuesday. The meeting, set for Monday, comes as the government seeks to persuade Sohn's main opposition Democratic Party (DP) to ratify the trade pact despite its demand for renegotiation. It also comes as the DP increased pressure on the government to take steps to lower college tuitions, one of the hottest issues in South Korea. Other agenda items that the two sides agreed to take up at the meeting include job creation, the opposition demand for a supplementary budget to bankroll welfare measures, curbing household debts and how to deal with ailing savings banks, officials said. The meeting also draws attention as Sohn is considered a leading opposition contender for next year's presidential race. Sohn's popularity and standing in his party received a big boost in April when he won a parliamentary by-election in an electoral district that has been considered a ruling party stronghold. Sohn first made the dialogue offer last week. His party and the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae have since been in talks to set a meeting date and agenda. Next week's talks will mark the first of its kind in about three years since September 2008 when then-DP leader Chung Sye-kyun held talks with Lee. Senior presidential secretary for political affairs, Kim Hyo-jae, said that the sides will immediately launch preliminary negotiations to lay the groundwork for next week's meeting. "As this is a meeting that will be taking place after a long time, we will make utmost efforts through working-level discussions from today to make the meeting fruitful," Kim told reporters. "Of course, our goal is to produce an agreement, but it is too early to talk about its prospect." Kim cautioned against hasty optimism, saying that just because some issues are included on the agreed-upon agenda does not necessarily mean that agreement on those issues will be reached. "There must be something that the DP wants to talk about, and the president will also seek understanding on issues that need opposition understanding ... Including some issues on the agenda is one thing and reaching agreement on them is another." Sohn's spokesman, Rep. Kim Dong-cheol, said that the presidential office has strongly demanded that the FTA with the U.S. be included on the agenda. The trade pact, signed in 2007 and supplemented last December, has been awaiting approval from the legislatures of the two countries. The DP has been calling for a renegotiation of the deal, saying the pact favors the U.S. In Washington, the top U.S. trade official said that Washington will "fairly soon" send free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia to Congress, reiterating that President Barack Obama is committed to passing them this year. "Now as U.S. trade representative, my job is to open up markets and increase opportunities for American producers to sell more of what we make, grow, and provide here in the U.S.A. to the 95 percent of consumers who live beyond our borders," Ron Kirk said at the Conference of Mayors, held in the U.S. city of Baltimore.