South Korea has concluded free trade agreements (FTAs) and other agreements with a trade component with countries around the world and is negotiating with others.

  South Korea
  Free-trade areas

Trade agreements in force

No.[1] State Commenced negotiation Officially Signed Fully enforced Notes
1  Chile 14 December 1999 15 February 2003 1 April 2004 South Korea's first-ever FTA
2  Singapore 27 January 2004 4 August 2005 2 March 2006
3 European Free Trade Association

( Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and   Switzerland)

18 January 2005 15 December 2005 1 September 2006 South Korea's first FTA with a regional block
4 ASEAN

( Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,  Laos,  Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,  Singapore,  Thailand and  Vietnam)

23 February 2005 24 August 2006 (goods) 1 June 2007 (goods) agreements on goods, service and investment signed gradually from 2006 to 2009;

agreement on goods enforced in 2007 and others in 2009

21 November 2007 (service) 1 May 2009 (service)
2 June 2009 (investment) 1 September 2009 (investment)
5  India 23 March 2006 7 August 2009 1 January 2010 see Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and South Korea
6  European Union and its member states 7 May 2007 6 October 2010 (1 July 2011)

13 December 2015

see European Union–South Korea Free Trade Agreement;

enforced provisionally from 2011 and fully from 2015;[2] EU's first trade agreement with environmental and labour components[3]

7  Peru 16 March 2009 21 March 2011 1 August 2011 see South Korea–Peru Free Trade Agreement
8  United States 5 June 2006 30 June 2007 15 March 2012 see United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement;

signed under Obama administration[4] and revised under Trump administration[5]

5 January 2018 (revised) 24 September 2018 (revised) 1 January 2019 (revised)
9  Turkey 26 April 2010 1 August 2012 (framework and goods) 1 May 2013 (framework and goods) on framework and goods initially and service and investment three years later
26 May 2015 (service and investment) 1 August 2018 (service and investment)
10  Australia 19 May 2009 8 April 2014 12 December 2014 see Australia–Korea Free Trade Agreement
11  Canada 28 July 2005 22 September 2014 1 January 2015
12  China 14 May 2012 1 June 2015 20 December 2015 see China–South Korea Free Trade Agreement
13  New Zealand 8 June 2009 23 March 2015 20 December 2015
14  Vietnam 6 August 2012 5 May 2015 20 December 2015
15  Colombia 7 December 2009 21 February 2013 15 July 2016
16 Central America

( Panama,  Costa Rica,  Honduras,  El Salvador and  Nicaragua)

18 June 2015 21 February 2018 1 March 2021
17  United Kingdom 24 February 2017 22 August 2019 1 January 2021 never "negotiated" as prohibited by EU rules;

aimed at maintaining the trade relations two countries enjoyed under EU-SK FTA before Brexit[6] and subject to re-negotiation in two years[7]

18 ASEAN member states,  China,  Japan,  Australia and  New Zealand 9 May 2013 15 November 2020 1 February 2022 see Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership;

from February 2022[8]

19  Australia,  Brunei,  India,  Indonesia,  Japan,  Malaysia,  New Zealand,  Philippines,  Thailand,  Singapore,  United States and  Vietnam N/A N/A 2022 see Indo-Pacific Economic Framework;[9] not a trade agreement[10]
20  Indonesia 7 July 2012 18 December 2020 1 January 2023 [11] see Indonesia–Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
21  Israel 27 June 2016 12 May 2021 1 January 2023 South Korea's first FTA in Middle East and Israel's first in Asia[12]
22 Gulf Cooperation Council

( Bahrain,  Kuwait,  Oman,  Qatar,  Saudi Arabia,  UAE)

9 July 2008 28 December 2023[13] First negotiation commenced in 2008 upon President Roh's visit to Riyadh but later halted by GCC in 2010;[14]

resumed negotiation in 2022 upon President Moon's visit to Riyadh[15]

Trade agreements signed yet in force

No. State Commenced negotiation Officially Signed Notes
1  Cambodia 30 July 2020 26 October 2021[16]
2  Philippines 4 June 2019 N/A concluded negotiations in 2021[17]
3  Singapore 29 July 2020 N/A Digital Partnership Agreement on digital trade;

concluded negotiations in 2021[18]

Trade agreements under negotiation

No. State Commenced negotiation Notes
1  China,  Japan 26 March 2013 see China–Japan–South Korea Free Trade Agreement
2  Ecuador 26 January 2016

2022*

SECA (Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement)[19] first negotiation commended in 2006 but stalled since; In February 2022 both parties agreed to complete negotiations in 2022[20][21]
3 Mercosur*

( Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and  Uruguay)

11 September 2018 without Venezuela who is suspended of Mercosur membership[22]
4  Russia 21 June 2019 on service and investment
5  Malaysia 11 July 2019
6  Uzbekistan 26 April 2021 STEP (Agreement for Sustainable Trade and Economic Partnership)
7  Chile,  New Zealand,  Singapore 2021 see Digital Economy Partnership Agreement[23]
8 Pacific Alliance( Chile,  Colombia,  Mexico and  Peru) aims to begin in 2022[24] as an associate member of the block[25]
9  Mexico 7 February 2006

aims to begin in 2022*[26]

first negotiation commended in 2006 but halted in 2008[21]
10  United Kingdom 21 November 2023[27]

Trade agreements of interest

No. Current Members Expressed interest Notes
1  Chile,  New Zealand and  Singapore 2021[28] see DEPA (Digital Economy Partnership Agreement)
2  Australia,  Brunei,  Canada,  Chile, Japan,  Malaysia,  Mexico,  New Zealand,  Peru,  Singapore and  Vietnam 2021[29] see CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership)

See also

References

  1. ^ "FTA 강국, KOREA". www.fta.go.kr. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  2. ^ "South Korea - Trade - European Commission". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  3. ^ "Press corner". European Commission - European Commission. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  4. ^ "The U.S.-ROK Free Trade Agreement". www.csis.org. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  5. ^ "Trump's First Trade Deal: The Slightly Revised Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement". Cato Institute. 2019-06-13. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  6. ^ "UK and South Korea sign 'continuity' trade agreement". BBC News. 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  7. ^ "UK and South Korea to sign 'continuity free trade agreement'". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  8. ^ "The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement will enter into force in South Korea". www.meti.go.jp. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  9. ^ "Joe Biden launches trade agreement with 12 Asian nations". Financial Times. 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  10. ^ Kemp, Ted (2022-05-23). "U.S. announces major Asia economic deal in effort to boost profile, counter China". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  11. ^ "한-인도네시아 CEPA". fta.go.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Israel and South Korea to sign free trade pact". Reuters. 2021-05-09. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  13. ^ "GCC-South Korea sign free trade deal in boost to Gulf-Asia economic ties". www.reuters.com. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  14. ^ "S. Korea, Gulf Nations Agree to Resume FTA Talks after 12-Year Hiatus". world.kbs.co.kr. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  15. ^ "The president of the republic of Korea receives the Secretary General of the gulf cooperation council in Riyadh". www.gcc-sg.org. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  16. ^ 파이낸셜뉴스 (2021-10-26). "한-캄보디아 FTA 정식 서명…신남방정책 발표 후 메콩 첫 협정". 파이낸셜뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  17. ^ "DTI confirms PH, Korea free trade agreement conclusion". cnn. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  18. ^ "Korea-Singapore Digital Partnership Agreement (KSDPA)". www.mti.gov.sg. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  19. ^ "Energy | Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy". english.motie.go.kr. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  20. ^ Valencia, Alexandra (2022-02-06). "Ecuador looking to increase China trade by 35%, minister says". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  21. ^ a b "한-멕시코 FTA 협상 14년 만에 재개…공급망 협력도 강화".
  22. ^ "Mercosur suspends Venezuela over trade and human rights". BBC News. 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  23. ^ 황석주 (2021-10-06). "S. Korea starts process to join DEPA". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  24. ^ "Pacific Alliance to start FTA negotiations with South Korea". Opportimes (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  25. ^ 김덕현 (2022-01-26). "Moon hopes for free trade deal with Mexico". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  26. ^ "Mexico to Restart Free-Trade Talks with South Korea". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  27. ^ "South Korea's Yoon to Talk AI in UK as Trade Negotiations Begin". Bloomberg. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  28. ^ "Korea to officially deliver intention to join DEPA". koreatimes. 2021-09-12. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  29. ^ Global, K. E. D. "South Korea moves to join CPTPP free trade pact as China fears ease". KED Global. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
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