TORONTO — A senior administration official said Saturday that President Barack Obama has decided to resume talks aimed at resolving issues blocking the completion of a free trade agreement with South Korea.
The official said Obama planned to announce the new effort after a meeting Saturday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. The official said the goal would be to clear up remaining differences with Seoul by the time Obama visits South Korea in November.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama had not yet spoken.
The administration of George W. Bush negotiated a free trade deal with South Korea in 2007, but the agreement has been stalled in the United States since that time because of determined opposition led by U.S. automakers who contend that the agreemend did not go far enough to remove barriers to the sale of U.S. cars in Korea.
Since taking office in January 2009, the Obama administration, in the face of stiff opposition from U.S. labor groups, has refused to send the agreement to Congress for a vote.
Under U.S. law, both the House and Senate have to consider trade agreements under fast-track procedures that require up-and-down votes without amendments in a specified amount of time.
The administration official said that Obama had asked U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to initiate new discussions on the agreement with the South Korean government.
The official said that the objective would be to complete those talks by the time Obama visits Seoul in November. South Korea is the site for the next meeting of the Group of 20 nations.
The official said after the differences are resolved, the administration's target would be to submit the free trade agreement to Congress for a vote "in the following months."
Obama was scheduled to meet Saturday for one-on-one talks with Lee on the sidelines of the G-8 and G-20 summit meetings.