AP soundbite:
Ambassador Stephens (Apr. 20): "This is the kind of partnership that highlights the ties between our two countries and as Secretary (of State Hillary Rodham) Clinton again said over the weekend, the kind of work together that will allow us to continue rising together delivering peace, prosperity and progress to the American and Korean people."
"We (the US) are very eager to ratify the Korea-US free-trade agreement as quickly as possible. And yes, we are very mindful that our friends in Europe also have free-trade agreement, and we obviously wish them well. We don't see this as in conflict, but in fact the commitment we see in Korea, the commitment we see in Europe, and the commitment we see in the United States to opening our markets and pursuing free trade in a way that benefits all of our countries. So it is definitely win-win, but yes, we don't want to be too far behind. We'd like to see it ratified as soon as possible."
