Korea, ASEAN to kick off negotiations for improving bilateral FTA

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo shakes hands with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Trade Ministers' Meeting in Suzhou, China, May 22 (local time). Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources

Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are set to commence official talks for upgrading their free trade agreement (FTA), as part of the ongoing effort to expand bilateral ties in emerging areas, such as digital economy and critical minerals, Seoul's trade ministry said Monday.

The first round of official negotiations is scheduled to take place throughout this week in Seoul, with Park Geun-oh, director general for trade agreement policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, leading the Korean delegation, and the ASEAN side being represented by Alpana Roy, ASEAN's director general for international trade.

This week's talks will be centered on expanding ties in 13 separate areas, including digital economy, critical minerals and supply chains, according to the ministry.

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 Seoul having shipped some $122.5 billion worth of goods to the 11 member states in 2025.

The two sides have pushed to further upgrade their FTA after the issue was discussed during the annual Korea-ASEAN summit last year. The trading partners had agreed to expand the annual trade volume to $300 billion by 2029.