US nears South Korea free trade

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 03:19 GMT The trade deal is expected to dominate President Lee Myung-bak's visit to the US later this month The free trade agreement between the US and South Korea has cleared the first hurdle four years after the deal was first agreed.

The House Ways and Means Committee has voted to advance US free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to the full House.

The push for a swift approval of the deals comes amid a slowdown in the US economy and high rates of unemployment.

Backers of the deals said they will boost US exports and create jobs.

"With zero jobs created last month and the unemployment rate hovering around nine percent, we must look at all opportunities to create American jobs," said David Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Tariff concerns

The deal with South Korea is the largest US trade pact since it signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.

According to some estimates, it is expected to increase US exports to the Asian economy by as much as $10bn (￡6.5bn).

Though the deal was agreed in 2007, there had been concerns in the US over tariffs imposed by South Korea on the US carmakers.

The two sides finally managed to reach an agreement on the issue last year. South Korea said it would halve its tariff on US cars to 4% and lift it completely in four years.

At the same time, US said it would also lift its 2.5% tariff on Korean cars during that period.

South Korea had also agreed to allow the US to export up to 25,000 cars a year that do not meet its more stringent safety requirements.

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Fatal landslides struck South Korea

Streets flooded in Seoul, South Korea. The country has been affected by heavy rains, which have caused landslides. Photo: Reuters/Yonhap

Heavy rain has caused landslides in the capital of Korea in South, Seoul, and a town in the North, killing to at least 32 people and leaving a child missing, officials said.

Ten of the 13 people killed in a landslide in the early morning in Chuncheon, about 68 kilometers northeast of Seoul, were University students who had been doing volunteer work, said Byun in-soo, of the city fire station. They were staying in a cabin of resource when the mud and debris are wrapped. Also killed were a married couple and a convenience store owner.

About 500 officials and residents worked to rescue people trapped in the mud and debris. Twenty-four people were injured and several buildings destroyed, officials said.

In southern Seoul, six people were killed when a wave of mud crashed against residential areas at the foot of a mountain, Lee Sun-myeong, a city official said. The dead were not yet identified. Missing a child.

About 15 inches of rain fell in Seoul in just 17 hours starting Tuesday afternoon. More than 10 inches fell in Chuncheon in the last two days, and weather officials said it could still fall another 10 inches in the North Korea, including Seoul, before the weekend.

See landslide Seoul, July 2011 in a larger map

Muddy water, fast has filled the streets of Seoul for people fighting for the roofs of their vehicles partially submerged. Water filled with some burst of sewers and subway stations. TV images showed people in a subway station flooded with shovels, brooms and a table of wood in an effort to avoid that more rain.

Some 800 houses flooded, according to an official of the city disaster. Closed 23 official such roads in the city.

Local TV showed officials rescue of hikers stranded on the slopes of the mountains. People waded through knee-deep water-covered streets. Cars were could come at the bottom of a two-tier bridge in the center of Seoul that was submerged.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency issued an emergency traffic, mobilize more agents to deal with the problems caused by heavy rains.

Officials in Seoul said they were considering closing two roads of city stretching along each side of the River have had to increase in the level of the water. Cha Jun-ho, an official at the Han Government river flood control Office, said a reservoir located east of Seoul performance of 16,400 tons of water per second; High Dam near 1,000 tonnes for second day before the recent downpours.

About 60 houses were isolated road in the village of Hyeongchon in Seoul due to heavy rains, and fire officials were trying to rescue them, said a local official.

Persons issued dozens of Twitter and Facebook photos showing flooded streets and cars covered in mud. Many reported online that Seoul had neglected to prepare these downpours.

In Chuncheon, TV footage showed a planted town in rubble. Rescue teams to a stunned person covered in mud from head to toe in a stretcher. Others also covered with mud, flooring into ambulances. Rescue workers in rain Orange blade of fishing gear used to move the mud and bulldozers cleared heavy debris.

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