Seoul, March 6:

South Korea and the United States will begin formal negotiations for a free trade agreement in June, the US embassy announced today.

The first round of talks will commence the week of June 5 in Washington, the embassy said.

Today, negotiators for the two sides began preliminary discussions on setting the agenda for the formal negotiations, Korean officials said.

The two countries announced last month that they would begin talks on a free trade pact that, if successful, would be the biggest for the United States since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993.

Today’s talks in Seoul were focused on preparations, including how to set up committees for industry sectors to be discussed as part of the deal, South Korea’s ministry of foreign affairs and trade said.

“Now we are about to begin a very important and historical work, which will serve to the well-being, welfare and prosperous life of our peoples,” Kim Jong-hoon, South Korea’s chief negotiator, said at the start of today’s talks.

“The interest that we are going to pursue should stand together so that it can be reflected in our final product in a balanced manner,” Kim told Wendy Cutler, his US counterpart, and other American officials.

Both countries are expected to focus on completing an agreement by June 2007. The talks face strong resistance from South Korean farmers who have protested violently against any reduction of protections for agriculture, especially rice.

Today’s, some 20 farmers held a rally in front of the ministry, denouncing the South Korean government’s move to forge a free trade deal with the United States.

“The government should not hasten to strike a Korea-US FTA without clear preparations,” the farmers said in a joint statement.

“We can never accept a Korea-US FTA which forces the sacrifice of agriculture.”