- 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
22-Mar-2011
South Korea’s Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and his Peruvian counterpart Eduardo Ferreyros Monday inked the free trade agreement in Seoul after five rounds of negotiations over a two-year period.
21-Mar-2011
JoongAng Daily
Jim Lim, the newly appointed chairman of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea, or AustChamKorea, expects the free trade agreement between Korea and Australia to be signed in the first half of this year.
18-Mar-2011
Dong-a Ilbo
Koreas free trade agreements with the US and the European Union, which Seoul hopes to ratify by this years first half, face unexpected obstacles to parliamentary ratification.
18-Feb-2011
AFP
Europe gave its final approval on Thursday to a major free trade deal with South Korea, eliminating most tariffs in a pact hailed as a model for future agreements with other Asian nations.
18-Feb-2011
Yonhap
Competition between South Korean and Japanese businesses in India will likely intensify following New Delhi’s signing of a free trade agreement with Tokyo this week, a local trade body said Friday.
15-Feb-2011
Andina
Large Korean conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai are getting ready to enter Peru in view of the upcoming entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement scheduled for April
8-Feb-2011
Colombia Reports
Colombian and South Korean representatives meet Monday in Los Angeles for the third mini-round of negotiations to finalize details of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
8-Jan-2011
Japan’s Kyodo News agency reports that the Japanese government apparently sees an expected visit to Tokyo by President Lee Myung-bak as a chance to resume stalled talks on a free trade agreement.
6-Jan-2011
AFP
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-Sik was to open three days of talks in Uruguay Tuesday to advance plans for a trade pact with the region and to hear pleas to end Seoul’s ban on Uruguayan beef.
3-Jan-2011
Yonhap
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, who was in Brazil to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Dilma Rousseff, emphasized the need to begin FTA negotiations with Mercosur.
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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