US seeks renegotiation with S. Korea over 'horrible' trade deal

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The US and South Korea have begun negotiations on their free trade agreement, according to US President Donald Trump, who described the current accord with South Korea as a "horrible deal."

Trump made the remarks off the record en route to his first official visit to France on Wednesday local time. But the White House disclosed them later.

Trump has blamed free trade deals for the loss of American jobs.

Mark Tokola, US ambassador to South Korea, and Han Duk-soo, chairman of the Korea International Trade Association celebrate the KORUS FTA implementation in Seoul on March 15, 2012. /VCG Photo

"We have a bad deal with South Korea. We're just starting negotiations with South Korea. South Korea, we protect, but we're losing 40 billion dollars a year with South Korea on trade," said the US president. "It's a horrible deal. So we're starting – we started, as of yesterday, renegotiating the deal with South Korea. We have to."

Known as KORUS FTA, the free trade agreement between the US and South Korea went into force on March 15, 2012, aimed at removing or lowering trade barriers to markets.

Luncheon in celebration of the KORUS FTA implementation on March 15, 2012. /VCG Photo

"Since KORUS went into effect, our trade deficit in goods with Korea has doubled from 13.2 billion dollars to 27.6 billion dollars, while US goods exports have actually gone down. This is quite different from what the previous administration sold to the American people when it urged approval of this agreement. We can and must do better,” US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement.

The negotiations are due to be held in Washington next month, according to Lighthizer.