South Korea sees higher chance of US trade deal by APEC summit

South Korea has a higher chance of reaching a trade deal with the U.S. by the time of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC) summit in South Korea later this month, the country's chief policy advisor said on Sunday.

While the two sides have made concrete progress in most issues, they need to iron out a couple of remaining issues, advisor Kim Yong-beom told reporters, after returning from a trip to Washington where he met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Kim said the U.S. understands the impact South Korea's $350 billion financial package would have on Seoul's foreign exchange market and that the deal must be "within South Korea's tolerance."