U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged Congress to approve free trade agreements (FTAs)
with South Korea and others, stressing that America must seek wider markets for its goods and services, Yonhap News said in Washington.

"There are some long-term challenges to our economy and we need to work together to address those challenges," Bush said after meeting his economic advisers. The transcript of his remarks was released later in the day.

"One way to address the challenges is to continue opening up markets for America's goods and services, and the best way to do that is to expand free trade," the president said. "We've negotiated new free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and Korea. And now the Congress needs to carry out its
responsibility to approve these agreements."

In Seoul, South Korea's just-appointed trade minister vowed to pool government resources to persuade the country's National Assembly to ratify the FTA, while the finance minister said the government will "soon" take steps necessary. South Korea's National Assembly is scheduled to open its regular session next month.

The South Korea-U.S. FTA, signed in June, is called the biggest commercial partnership for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 and the largest ever for South Korea.

South Korea is the U.S.' seventh-largest trade partner. Trade between the two countries last year reached $78 billion.