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The government will raise all relevant issues, including criminal jurisdiction, in the upcoming negotiations with the United States on revising the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), a top official said yesterday.

"This time, we intend to actively supplement what we consider to be inadequate in the agreement by raising all issues (related to the pact)," Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Lee Joung-binn said on a KBS-TV talk show.

Lee's remarks reconfirmed that differences exist between Seoul and Washington over the scope of the revisions to the controversial bilateral accord, which governs the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed here.

The United States has reportedly hoped that only the criminal jurisdiction clause of the pact will be addressed in the talks scheduled to take place later this month.

The U.S. proposal delivered to the Foreign Ministry last Wednesday touches only on jurisdiction matters, particularly the timing of the handover of U.S. criminal suspects to Korean authorities, news reports said.

Seoul, however, wants to discuss broader issues such as environmental pollution and the labor rights of Koreans employed at U.S. military bases.

"We will take necessary steps (in revising the SOFA) that will have a positive effect on Seoul-Washington relations," Foreign Minister Lee said.

Touching on the contentious criminal jurisdiction clause, he said Seoul and Washington shared the view that it should be revised in a way that would allow U.S. criminal suspects to be transferred to Korean authorities at the time of indictment.

The clause, regarded by Korean civic groups as an example of the accord's fundamental "inequality," prevents Korean authorities from taking U.S. suspects into custody until they are convicted.

But the negotiations on changing the clause are unlikely to proceed smoothly, as Washington will almost certainly demand conditions in return for agreeing to the revision.

Reports said the United States is demanding that American suspects and their lawyers be permitted to question witnesses and victims during the prosecution's interrogation and is also asking Korean authorities to relegate minor cases such as traffic accidents to the U.S. Forces in Korea.

But diplomatic watchers here said the U.S. proposal on dealing with minor offenses could not be accepted by the Seoul government as it is a matter related to Korean sovereignty.

The SOFA, a treaty governing 37,000 U.S. troops in Korea and their use of land and facilities here, took effect in 1967. It has been revised only once, in 1991.

Seoul and Washington held seven rounds of talks on rewriting the pact in 1995 and 1996, but failed to make any progress.