The White House hopes the U.S. will ratify its free trade agreement with South Korea as soon as possible.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday made the remarks during a regular news briefing. Gibbs was answering a question that asked why President Barack Obama’s planned trip to Latin America does not include Colombia and Panama, the two nations that the U.S. is stalling its passage of bilateral trade agreements.

Spokesman for the National Security Council, Mike Hammer, also told a news briefing that the U.S. is clearly focusing on finalizing the trade pact with South Korea.

Hammer called the Korea-US FTA a significant achievement, adding the trade pact is very important for the economies of the two nations.