Seoul, January 18:

South Korea’s chief negotiator said on Thursday Seoul could open free trade talks with China and the European Union if negotiations with the United States broke down.

“If talks with the United States on forging a free trade agreement (FTA) break down, we can open discussions with the European Union and China,” Kim Jong-Hoon told reporters.

The remarks followed local media reports that South Korea has almost retracted its demand for the United States to change anti-dumping laws in an effort to bring free trade talks to a successful end.

Changing US anti-dumping rules has been South Korea’s single most important demand since talks on forging a free trade agreement began eight months ago.

But under time pressures, South Korea softened its stance on the issue and asked the US to consider its demand without changing laws, the liberal newspaper Hankyoreh said, citing a classified government report to parliament. The report suggests South Korea would use its softened stance as a bargaining chip to gain concessions in other areas, it said.

Yonhap news agency quoted the report as saying: “Even if our interests are not reflected in the issue of trade remedies, we need to push forward the US side to use the card in other negotiations.” “I will express my regret to the National Assembly,” Kim said, indicating South Korea would not rush to conclude the deal.

“I don’t expect the talks to be concluded at the next round” in February, he said. Both sides have held high-level informal meetings to tackle major disagreements — over US anti-dumping and countervailing rules, and non-tariff barriers in South Korea’s auto and drug markets — since they started a five-day meeting here on Monday.

Washington needs an agreement no later than early April if it is to be cleared by the US Congress before US President George W. Bush’s powers to fast-track trade deals expire

in June. Previous rounds have made relatively little headway, with the talks clouded further by a dispute over US beef.

Last year Seoul banned three US beef shipments due to the presence of small bone fragments, after it ended a three-year import ban imposed to guard against mad-cow disease.

The FTA with South Korea would be the US’ biggest deal since the North American NAFTA pact in 1994, marrying two econ-omies whose bilateral trade in 2005 was $72 billion.

Farmers, unionists and activists have opposed any market-opening measures, fearing a deal could cost them their livelihoods by allowing in cheap imports of goods and services.