Seoul to resume stalled FTA talks with Japan
Asia Times, May 6, 2006
Seoul to resume stalled FTA talks with Japan
SEOUL - South Korea’s finance minister says the country will seek to resume its stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan after wrapping up a pact with the United States.
"Should the FTA with the United States be completed, we have to think about how to carry out a similar one with Japan," Han Duck-soo said.
The two countries began FTA talks in December 2003, but the negotiations have been stalled since November 2004 when they failed to reach agreement on the opening of Japan’s agricultural market.
South Korea has accused Japan of being unwilling to open the market wide enough.
Han said the trade pact with the US will be a milestone for the South Korean economy, Asia’s fourth largest, and eventually contribute to the world economy.
South Korea and the US announced in February the launch of FTA negotiations aimed at removing tariff and non-tariff barriers to bilateral trade.
The official negotiations are expected to begin in Washington in June.
The two sides want to wrap up the talks by early spring 2007 for the FTA to be covered under what is called the trade promotion authority, a temporary piece of US legislation under which Congress must accept or reject the FTA draft without amendment.
(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)
