South Korea, Japan To Resume FTA Talks

At a recent summit meeting in Seoul, the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda have agreed to resume working-level discussions on negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

The two countries launched negotiations on a bilateral FTA in December 2003. They held six rounds of such talks, before the dialogue was broken off after November 2004. What were called “working-level” talks also took place during the year after June 2008, with little success being disclosed.

It was said, at the time, that Japan was resisting a lowering of its agricultural and fisheries tariffs, while South Korea was unwilling to open up its automobile industry to further competition.

The leaders of Japan and South Korea have now agreed to boost efforts to enhance cooperation and links between the two economies in general, and, in particular, to resume working-level discussions on the long-discussed bilateral FTA. It appears probable that the Japanese government has been prompted into action by the competition threatened by South Korea’s conclusion of a network of FTAs, particularly the latest with the United States and the European Union.

There have also been contacts been Japan and South Korea, together with China, on the possibilities for a trilateral FTA. Earlier this year, the trade ministers from the three countries agreed to accelerate a current joint study on such an agreement, which has been in discussion since 2002.

October 21, 2011

Source: Tax News