S. Korea Seeks More FTAs With Asia-Pacific Nations
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
South Korea is seeking to sign more free trade agreements (FTA) with Asia-Pacific countries as part of its efforts to strengthen economic cooperation, a Foreign Ministry official said Friday.
In a speech delivered during the ASEAN Forum on Jeju Island, Kwon Jong-rak, the first vice foreign minister, said that the Lee Myung-bak administration will devise more development policies under its new Asia diplomacy of which the aim is to globalize Korea.
``By establishing an FTA network around the Asia-Pacific countries, we will consolidate a basis to spur trade, investment and cooperation in service sectors,'' he said.
The forum was organized to mark the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit which is scheduled for June 1 and 2 on the island.
During the summit, ASEAN member countries are expected to discuss environmental-friendly green growth, and cultural and economic changes.
As the host of the meeting, South Korea has named the last week of May and the first week of June as ``The Week of ASEAN'' and has been preparing a range of cultural events.
Stressing that Asian countries are major trade partners, Kwon said that South Korea plans to expand the scale of its Official Development Assistance (ODA).
ODA is a statistic compiled by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to measure aid.
``For this, we will join the DAC in 2010 and initiate policies to help developing countries,'' he said.
Kwon also noted that the nation will make an effort to cope with global issues in harmony with Asian countries.
South Korea will hold an East Asia forum on the world economy between June 18 and 19 to discuss countermeasures against the global financial crisis and climate change, he said.