Life insurers are welcoming news that the United States has reached an agreement that could lead to approval of a trade agreement with one of the largest life insurance markets in the world.
President Obama has announced that U.S. and South Korean officials 
have cleared the last obstacles to completing work on the Korea – United States (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement.
Financial services provisions in the agreement would put the government-owned insurers in Korea under the same set of regulations that apply to private insurers, and that could help both Korean and non-Korean private insurers, U.S. insurers say.
Korea has the eighth largest insurance market in the world.
The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Washington, "enthusiastically welcomes the announcement and is fully supportive of quick congressional consideration and passage of this agreement," the ACLI says in a statement about news of progress on KORUS.
"KORUS would eliminate many of the regulatory and economic barriers that have prevented American businesses from achieving their full potential in the booming South Korean economy," the ACLI says.
KORUS "contains the strongest and most promising commitments ever achieved for our industry" in a free trade agreement, the ACLI says.
