S. Korea's FM meets Nides

South Korea's Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan met on Wednesday with US Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides for discussions on pending bilateral issues, as the two nations are in the final stages of implementing their landmark free trade agreement (FTA). The FTA between South Korea and the US is set go into effect March 15, more than four years after it was signed in 2007, according to to South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency. The visit by Nides to Seoul, his first since taking office early last month, came amid US pressure on South Korea and other allies, including Japan, to join its efforts to punish Iran for the Middle Eastern country's nuclear development program. A South Korean government delegation also visited Washington last week for talks on how much South Korea will have to cut its oil imports from Iran, but Seoul officials said they have yet to reach a decision on the size of the cuts. Nides arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for a two-day visit and was scheduled to hold talks with South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Ahn Ho-young later in the day before heading to Japan.