S. KOREAN TRADE SURPLUS WITH U.S. SEEN FALLING

  South Korea's record 7.1 billion dlrs
  trade surplus with the U.S. is bound to diminish as the
  country switches purchases from Japan in favor of U.S.
  companies, Trade Minister Woong-Bae Rha said.
       He rejected suggestions the Korean Won is undervalued, and
  denied any plans for a "drastic and sudden" revaluation.
      Rha is heading a trade mission to 37 U.S. cities. Last year
  South Korea ran a 4.3 billion dlr trade surplus, including a
  record 7.1 billion surplus with the U.S. and a 5.5 billion dlr
  deficit with Japan.
      Rha told Reuters in an interview the current trade mission
  is looking for 2.0 billion dlrs in purchases from U.S.
  companies, about a quarter of which represents "transferred
  purchases from Japanese sources."
      Rha said the items being sought by the current mission are
  "mainly chemicals, machinery and parts."
      He said South Korea is the fourth largest importer of U.S.
  agricultural products. The current mission is not involved in
  that area but there are plans to buy "substantial amounts of
  cotton" from the U.S.
      He noted his country "is clearly not as open as the American
  market. Nor is it reasonable to expect that it should be,"
  considering South Korea has a 40 billion dlr foreign debt and
  spends six pct of its gross national product on defense.
  

