"The (Bush) administration is committed to protecting American creativity," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said in a statement. "The pirating of U.S. intellectual property robs Americans and hurts those countries whose economies rely on innovation, technology, and investment."

The decision to put South Korea on the priority watch list, a largely symbolic move used to convey U.S. dissatisfaction, was based on a special review finished in late December.

The investigation found that South Korea had made some progress in enforcing intellectual property protections, but had failed to move on legislation to protect sound recordings or to fulfill a commitment to resolve film piracy issues involving the Korean Media Rating Board.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a coalition of U.S. film, software, music and other copyright industries, had urged in October that Seoul be put on the priority watch list. The group, which represents an important segment of the U.S. economy, estimates that piracy cost U.S. copyright owners $572 million in South Korea in 2002.

South Korea joins 11 other trading partners already on the priority watch list. Those are Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, the EU, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, and Taiwan.

U.S. law allows the United States to impose sanctions on countries with high levels of intellectual property piracy, but it rarely takes that step. Currently, it has sanctions in place on only one country, Ukraine.

The United States expects to hold talks with South Korea on intellectual property issues early this year, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said.