Congressional votes on trade deals with Panama and South Korea are unlikely this year, but that hasn’t stopped an army of lobbyists for those countries from descending on Capitol Hill.

Panama has hired four firms and South Korea two firms since last year to lobby for their respective trade deals, which were both signed last summer, even though neither is expected to get a vote anytime soon.

In the case of Korea, even the administration has said the deal will not be considered as long as that country places restrictions on U.S. beef exports. Objections from the auto industry and its supporters in Congress, particularly Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), who chairs the House Ways and Means Trade subcommittee, could also derail the deal, particularly in a presidential election year.

Nonetheless, lobbying firms are busy meeting with lawmakers about the merits of the two agreements — at some expense to the two governments.

Panama signed Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to a $17,000-per-month contract in May 2007, according to Justice Department records. Akin Gump has earned more than $170,000 so far from the Central American country, and stands to earn more as the fight over Panama continues. Akin Gump has also taken in more than $200,000 from Korea.

Akin Gump is far from alone.

Steptoe & Johnson signed a $20,000-per-month contract with the South Korean embassy in September 2007 to work on their free trade agreement. The Washington Group , led by former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-Conn.), renewed its agreement last month with Panama to work on its trade deal. Since October 2006, Molinari’s firm has earned close to $320,000 from the Panama contract.

The one country that might see a deal it negotiated with the Bush administration receive a vote this year is Colombia, although it faces tough opposition from labor groups and many Democrats.

ProExport Colombia, the government’s trade bureau, has paid the Glover Park Group $180,000 since initiating a contract in April 2007, according to Justice records. Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland & Stewart Inc. has earned more than $415,000 from ProExport Colombia since November 2006. Both have Democratic ties, which reflects the effort by Colombia to win over the party most skeptical of its trade deal.

Lobbyists say they are asking for Congress to vote on the deals as soon as possible, but they acknowledge they face an uphill climb this year.

The deals face “a very difficult situation this year,” said Rob Leonard, an Akin Gump partner lobbying for Panama and South Korea.   

Nonetheless, they say the lobbying work is no waste of time because it will lay the groundwork for votes in the next Congress, when members may not get a chance to cast votes on the merits of the deals.

“It is a matter of educating the members. It is also about listening to their concerns and responding to their concerns,” Leonard said.

“Lobbying is education. They want to make sure their governments’ messages are being heard,” said Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council , which represents multinational corporations on trade. “They will soften [lawmakers] up in the process.”

The work also reflects the importance of the agreements to the countries. Officials have estimated that South Korea’s exports to the U.S. could increase by 15 percent once the deal is implemented.

Lobbyists say they are getting in lawmakers’ ears on why these agreements deserve their vote, whether it comes this year or not.

They are particularly targeting Democrats, who rule both chambers of Congress and are tough votes on trade because of opposition from allies in organized labor. Some lobbyists said they are focusing their efforts on Democratic members whose districts have a small labor presence to try to slowly build support within the party for their deals.

In some cases, lobbyists have been specifically hired to work with Democratic members. For example, Steptoe’s contract with the Korean embassy said it will concentrate on seeking support from the Congressional Black Caucus.

Lobbyists for the deals are also encouraging their clients to put distance between themselves and the White House, which is unpopular with the Democratic Congress. They argue the countries should tell their own stories about why the trade deals will be of benefit.

“The fact that those countries are so tied to the administration is a problem for those countries,” said Steve Pruitt, senior partner to the Watts Consulting Group , which lobbied for a U.S.-Peru trade deal last year.

“Sometimes, when you change the team, you get different results.”

Getting deals through Congress during an election year is tougher, given pressures from the presidential race and worries by some Democratic members that a vote for a trade deal will be seen as a vote with President Bush.

The anti-trade tone from the Democratic presidential race also has silenced potential advocates, lobbying sources said. Party operatives who would traditionally support the trade deals by writing op-eds or doing interviews with the press are reluctant to do so this year because they are affiliated with either Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

Leonard, the Akin Gump partner lobbying for both countries, said the tough climate has led him to seek concessions from his clients to better their chances.

Still, the former Ways and Means Democratic aide is most focused on changing minds on Capitol Hill. “We are very clear on where the decision-makers are, which is in the Congress, and that’s where we are focused,” said Leonard.