Korea, ASEAN hold inaugural joint committee meeting to discuss upgrading bilateral FTA

President Lee Jae Myung, right, attends the ASEAN-Korea Summit held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center in Malaysia, Oct. 27, 2025. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok

Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday held the inaugural meeting of a joint committee designed to discuss improvements to their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), Seoul's trade ministry said.

Trade delegations from the two sides held the meeting virtually, about six months after Korea and ASEAN agreed to commence talks to improve the existing FTA in a bid to further expand cooperation on emerging issues, such as the digital economy, supply chains and critical minerals, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

Korea and ASEAN signed an FTA on goods in 2006, followed by agreements on services in 2007 and investment in 2009. ASEAN is currently the third-largest trading partner for Korea, with the latter having exported some $122.5 billion worth of goods to the ASEAN region last year.

The ministry said it will work to incorporate new trade rules on the digital economy, supply chains and critical minerals into the bilateral trade pact that will support future innovative industries, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles, amid growing uncertainties in the global trade environment stemming from the spread of trade protectionism and supply chain instability.