South Korea and six Central American countries will launch their third round of negotiations about a free trade agreement, the trade ministry here said Monday.
The talks will be held in San Francisco, U.S., from Monday to Friday, local time, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The six Central American countries are El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
South Korea FTA Director-General Cheong Seung-il will meet his counterpart Melvin E. Redondo from Honduras during the negotiations.
Throughout the five-day negotiations, the two parties will discuss key topics including the product, finance, service and investment, government procurement and cooperation sectors as well as the labor and environmental chapters.
The two sides have met two times, including once in Seoul, since they announced the start of negotiations for the seven-way FTA in June last year.
The six countries ranked fifth in terms of a combined gross domestic product of US$220.2 billion with a population of 46.2 million according to the trade ministry.
South Korea's trade with the Central American countries reached $4.1 billion last year, slightly down from $5 billion in 2014.
Asia's fourth-largest economy has made efforts to expand the FTA networks with around 50 countries including the U.S. and China. (Yonhap)