April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea and China have agreed to speed up negotiations to include the service and investment sector in the bilateral free trade agreement, Seoul’s Commerce Ministry said on Dec. 15.

Commerce minister Paik Un-gyu met with his Chinese counterpart Zhong Shan in Beijing to discuss upcoming negotiations to expand the FTA, which took effect in December 2015. The meeting took place on the sidelines of a summit between the two nations’ leaders.

During their talks, Paik proposed launching the first round of dialogue in January, or February at the latest, and Zhong agreed to get ready for the process as soon as possible, the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. 

The latest move comes as Seoul and Beijing had clinched the FTA focused on removing tariffs on goods and agreed to launch further negotiations on the service and investment sectors two years after the initial implementation of the open trade pact.

The ministers also signed two memorandums of understanding on the economic cooperation and trade remedies to facilitate business ties between the two nations.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)