* Talks seek to end autos impasse in free trade deal

* Seoul says auto provisions favorable to United States

* Other U.S. business groups support trade pact

* Deal would boost flow between two major trade partners (Recasts with Kim, Kirk comments)

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - Top U.S. and South Korean officials on Thursday made little progress on automotive issues blocking a free trade deal, but agreed it was important to eventually pass the pact.

"Although this is not the right time maybe, we have to look for a good opportune time to move it forward," South Korea's Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon told reporters after his first meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

"It seems to me the U.S. has political constraints, the same political constraint that we have in Korea. So we need a lot of wisdom," Kim said.

The deal could boost annual trade between the two countries, which in recent years has hovered above $80 billion, by a further $20 billion, some estimates say. South Korea is the United States' seventh largest trading partner.