- Negotiations
The government of South Korea has concluded, or is pursuing negotiations for, a number of bilateral free trade and investment agreements. Korean social movements have been mobilizing in opposition to these ever since the Korea-Chile FTA was proposed. So far, South Korea has signed deals with Chile (2004), EFTA (2004), Singapore (2005), ASEAN (2007) the US (2007, ratified in 2011), Peru (2011) and Turkey (2012). Talks are under way with Canada, China, Mexico, India, the EU and, technically speaking, Japan. Negotiations with Colombia have stalled over Colombia’s demands for access for better terms for its fruit and flower exports than what Korea gives Chile and Peru. Seoul is also looking to open discussions with Mercosur, Malaysia, Mexico and possibly Israel.
last update: May 2012
Photo: Joe Mabel / CC BY-SA 3.0
4-Apr-2007
Yonhap
South Korea’s finance minister said Wednesday that the government may push to strike a free trade agreement (FTA) with China after it wraps up negotiations with the European Union (EU).
25-Mar-2007
Hankyoreh
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Sunday unveiled an initiative for future cooperation between South Korea and the Middle East, proposing a free trade agreement (FTA) with member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
23-Mar-2007
Yonhap
A weary yet defiant looking Korean labor party leader has been a fixture in front of the president’s office for more than two weeks, on a hunger strike against South Korea’s imminent free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States. "FTA, I believe, only stands for ’For The Americans’," Moon Sung-hyun said.
31-Jan-2007
Times of Oman
South Korea is actively considering forging a free trade agreement with six Gulf nations, its top economic official said Wednesday.
27-Jan-2007
Yonhap
The European Union will focus on regulatory issues in negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea that could be completed in less than two years from the launch of talks, its trade official said Friday.
2-Jan-2007
Hankyoreh
Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy requested a budget of 1 billion won (US$1 million) to the National Assembly on January 1, saying that it needed extra funds to offset the harsher effects of FTAs, estimating 13,000 firms and 100,000 workers would be affected.
18-Dec-2006
Yonhap
South Korea could see its exports to South Africa soar over 30 percent if it signs a free trade agreement (FTA) with the country, a state-run think tank said Monday.
13-Dec-2006
People’s Daily
The Republic of Korea (ROK) is not fully prepared to enter free trade area (FTA) talks with China despite such a deal being widely believed to be positive for both economies, Shin Bong-kil, a minister with the Embassy of the ROK in China, said yesterday.
3-Nov-2006
Channel News Asia
South Korea wants to open free trade talks with the European Union and China as soon as next year, President Roh Moo-Hyun said.
28-Aug-2006
South Korea’s free trade agreement (FTA) with four non-EU members will go into effect next month.
Links
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KoPA is a coalition of around 50 NGOs, social movement organizations, political parties, peasant organizations and trade unions working, among other things, to stop bilateral and regional free trade agreements and the WTO.
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