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Australian PM urges S.Korea FTA

 Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Saturday called for the fast introduction of a free trade agreement with Seoul after talks stalled over access to the South Korean beef market.

Speaking at a dinner for business leaders after arriving in the South Korean capital, Gillard said she would discuss the FTA with President Lee Myung-Bak in Monday talks.

"I am very confident that we can strike a mutually acceptable agreement," she said, adding she hoped also to boost trade by matching Australia's services economy with South Korea's high-tech
industries.

The FTA talks, which started in May 2009, hit a snag over Australia's demand for the opening of South Korea's beef market, a South Korean official said.

Australia is seeking a similar level of market access to that provided to the United States in an FTA signed in December but not yet in force.

In 2010 Australia exported 122,000 tons of beef to South Korea, accounting for 49.7 per cent of all beef South Korea imported that year -- followed by the United States, which supplied 40 per cent.

Gillard's talks with Lee will also cover security, trade, resources and other issues, the presidential Blue House has said.

On Sunday she will attend a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of a fierce battle at Gapyeong, where a small force of Australian and other allies defeated an attack by a Chinese division during the Korean War in 1951.

This battle helped stop the Chinese "spring offensive" and proved crucial in preventing a Chinese breakthrough towards Seoul, Gillard said.

On Monday, Gillard will attend the ANZAC Day Dawn Service -- Australia's memorial day -- at the National War Memorial in Seoul.

More than 17,000 Australian troops served in the Korean War, and 340 were killed. Of those, 281 remain buried at the UN Memorial Cemetery in the southern port of Busan, Gillard said.

In her speech the Australian premier expressed Canberra's solidarity with Seoul in the face of "provocative attacks" from North Korea.

"Australia joined with (South) Korea and the international community in condemning the North's unprovoked torpedoing of the ROK (South Korea) corvette Cheonan and the tragic loss of 46 sailors," she said, referring to an attack in March last year. Pyongyang has denied responsibility.

In November 2010 it bombarded the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, killing two soldiers and two civilians.

"I was also deeply concerned by the North's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong island... Australia strongly condemned this unprovoked attack," she said.

She announced Australia will contribute $10 million to South Korea's Global Green Growth Institute, established by Seoul to support the development of environmentally friendly growth strategies in developing countries.

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