Top leaders of South Korea and the European Union Saturday agreed to seek the early conclusion of a free trade accord.
In a summit between President Lee Myung-bak and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic who currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, "the leaders agreed the future-oriented partnership between the sides will not only help improve the bilateral relationship between Korea and EU, but also contribute to the development and peace of their regions and the international community," Yonhap cited the leaders as saying.
South Korea and the EU are trying to resolve the last remaining hurdle in negotiations for a free trade agreement, duty drawback, which allows for the return of import tariffs to companies that use imported raw materials to produce goods for export.
The leaders said that a Korea-EU FTA, along with an envisioned change to the Korea-EU Framework Agreement, will be an important opportunity to further strengthen and upgrade their relationship.
Lee and Klaus earlier held a separate Korea-Czech summit in which they agreed to seek increased cooperation between their countries as well.