SEOUL - SOUTH Korea's trade minister on Thursday ruled out any renegotiation of a free trade agreement with the United States amid nervousness about its prospects under a Barack Obama presidency.

'There will be no renegotiation, and our stance will be maintained,' Mr Kim Jong Hoon said of the pact signed in April 2007 but awaiting ratification by legislatures of both countries.

Mr Obama has called the deal 'badly flawed' and said it does too little to narrow a huge imbalance in the auto trade in Seoul's favour.

South Korea shipped about 700,000 cars to the US last year while importing 5,000 American cars.

'The problems facing the US auto industry are not new ones,' Mr Kim said, adding that US carmakers should step up efforts to boost competitiveness.

Newspapers hailed Mr Obama's victory as historic but some cited his views on the trade pact as a potential challenge.

Dong-A Ilbo newspaper noted the Democrats' traditional protectionist instincts in trade.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and US President George W. Bush agreed during an April summit to push for approval of the FTA by their respective legislatures by the end of this year.

This now seems unlikely, but Seoul says it expects the deal will survive.

'It is easy to expect a further delay in the ratification of the FTA by the US legislature after Obama's win,' trade minister Kim told parliament in October. 'But I see this as a matter of when, not whether.'

For the US, the deal with South Korea would be its biggest since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.

Some estimates say it could boost two-way trade, worth US$78.4 billion (S$116 billion) last year, by up to US$20 billion in coming years.

Mr Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS, urged the two countries to find common ground to rescue the pact, saying in a commentary it would benefit both economies in troubled times.

'Its failure will put significant strains on the overall (Korea)-US relationship', Mr Cossa wrote. 'Koreans are already agonising this morning over the prospects of the US reneging on the deal.' -- AFP