South Korea will ask the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to restore the country's air safety rating next month.
The Construction and Transportation Ministry said most problems that have prompted the F-A-A's downgrading of Korea's safety rating will be addressed by next month.
A three-member F-A-A team Thursday finished a monthly two-day review of South Korea's progress on implementing safety improvements.
In late August, the F-A-A said South Korea's Category-One safety rating could be reinstated in six months if improvements were carried out.
The F-A-A downgraded Korea's aviation safety rating to Category-Two in mid-August after finding operations at Korea's civil aviation authority fell short of standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
As a result, the Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are banned from expanding services in the United States and engaging in code-sharing pacts with U.S. airlines, costing the country's airlines 230 billion won in lost business a year.