The South Korean ambassador to the U.S. says he is confident that the U.S. Congress will approve the pending free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea before it adjourns on August sixth.

Ambassador Han Duck-Soo made the remarks in a forum on Korea-U.S. partnership, which was held in Chicago on June 10th (local time.)

Han said that the two countries have agreed on the need for the parliamentary approval of the bilateral trade pact in each country and conditions are incomparably better than ever for the ratification of the Korea-U.S. FTA

He predicted that a free trade agreement between South Korea and the EU, which is scheduled to go into effect on July first, will spur the ratification of the Korea-U.S. trade treaty.

The ambassador said that the two countries have found common ground in negotiations for the auto sector, which was the largest stumbling block to the ratification of the trade agreement. He added that the FTA is beneficial to both countries and there is no reason to ditch the trade pact.