South Korea is set to hold a third round of rice talks with the United States from Friday in Washington.

Seoul's top diplomat for the Doha Development Agenda negotiations, Lee Jae-gil, will lead a delegation of agriculture and finance ministry officials to the talks.

Seoul is seeking to retain the right to keep rice imports under four percent of domestic consumption.

The U.S., on its part, wants Seoul to raise the import quota under the scheme of minimum market access aiming for what Washington calls the 'substantial and stable opening' of the South Korean rice market.

Under the 1994 Uruguay Round trade negotiations, South Korea must conclude talks on the possible opening of its rice market by the end of this year.