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| President Park Geun-hye shakes hands with European Council President Donald Tusk during their meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. / Joint press corps |
By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye and European Council President Donald Tusk agreed Tuesday to seek full implementation of the free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea and the European Union (EU) within this year.
The trade deal was signed in 2010, but it has been provisional because Italy had been reluctant to accept the agreement before its parliament ratified it in July ― last among Eurozone countries.
The two leaders held their first meeting at Cheong Wa Dae since the former Polish prime minister took office in December 2014. He arrived here on Monday for a three-day visit. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom also attended the meeting.
"They looked forward to the FTA entering into full force at the earliest date, if possible within this year, with the completion of the ratification process," the joint press statement said.
The remaining steps to full implementation are for the European Council to adopt a resolution on the deal and notify it to the executive committee, according the Cheong Wa Dae.
"The leaders agreed that the full implementation of the FTA and increase in trade volume between Korea and the EU is important, in order to bring benefits to both sides in a balanced way," the statement said.
"In this respect, the leaders encouraged their trade officials to produce tangible a outcome on the FTA implementation issues."
According to data, Korea's exports to the EU rose 5.5 percent through December 20 last year to $50.04 billion, while imports from the eurozone countries surged 9.9 percent over the cited period to a record high of $60.27 billion.
The world's single largest economic bloc is the largest foreign investor in Korea, with 33 billion euros (44 trillion won), according to Park's office, and the union of 28 European states is the nation's third-largest trading partner.
They also discussed increasing cooperation in science and technology in a number of areas, including nanotechnology, satellite navigation, biomedical research and information and communication technology (ICT), for example on 5G mobile telephony.
Along with economic issues, the leaders discussed regional and global affairs.
"The leaders strongly condemned North Korea's continued development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and called on it to cease all related activities immediately as required by the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions," it said.
The EU has critically engaged in North Korea issues ― particularly the human right issue ― and supported actions for improved crisis management on the Korean Peninsula.
While they were holding the summit, Pyongyang said that it has restarted operations at its nuclear bomb material production plants.
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