WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States will kick off negotiations to amend their bilateral free trade agreement next week, Seoul's trade ministry said Wednesday.

The first round of talks will be held in Washington on Jan. 5 following months of preparation triggered by the Donald Trump administration's request to revise the pact.

US President Trump has blamed the five-year-old deal, known as KORUS, for the growing US trade deficit with South Korea. But Seoul has pointed to macroeconomic factors and the US surplus in services trade.

"In the upcoming negotiations, we plan to push for the inclusion of our issues of interest with the aim of enhancing mutual reciprocity and achieving a balance of interests," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement.

The meeting will be led on the South Korean side by Yoo Myung-hee, director-general of the ministry's trade policy bureau, and on the US side by Assistant Trade Representative Michael Beeman. (Yonhap)