South Korean chief negotiator for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States Kim Jong- hoon said Saturday that the public-sectors services would be excluded from the FTA talks.

Kim, set to leave for Washington later on Saturday for a second round of preparatory FTA talks with U.S. officials, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency that South Korea's public services such as electricity, water, gas and railways will not be subject to the talks.

An FTA regulation stipulates public-sector services closely connected with national security are exempt from the agreement, he added.

Mandatory Korean public education comprising elementary, junior and senior high schools and national health insurance are also likely be ruled out from the talks, he told Yonhap.

South Korea and the United States announced on Feb. 2 that they would formally start full-fledged negotiations in June to reach a FTA by early next year.

The two sides held the first preparatory FTA talks last month in Seoul and agreed to launch main talks in Washington in June.

Source: Xinhua