US requests consultations with South Korea under the free trade pact

The United States and South Korea last year renegotiated some aspects of the US-South Korea Free Trade Agreement

The Trump administration has requested consultations with South Korea under the two nations' free trade pact to try to resolve US concerns about procedures in competition hearings held by a South Korean trade commission.

"Some of these hearings have denied US parties certain rights, including the opportunity to review and rebut the evidence against them," the Office of the US Trade Representative said in a statement. "Denial of this fundamental right undermines their ability to defend themselves." The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) in December 2016 fined US mobile chipmaker Qualcomm Inc over $900 million for what it called unfair business