ISDS Case Map
Korea
China said Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun agreed to soon start talks on a free-trade area.
Negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and South Korea, including goods, services and investments are on the fast track.
One glaring issue is Gaeseong, the inter-industrial park located in North Korea. Seoul, up until the previous round of FTA negotiations held last month, said it would not give up trying to persuade Washington to include products made in Gaeseong in their deal.
A proposed free-trade deal between the United States and South Korea would probably be doomed if Washington succeeds in putting rice on the negotiating table, according to a source familiar with the subject.
US beef will likely be distributed in Korea's domestic market soon after the Chusok holidays following the government's decision to resume imports early September.
Korea is seeking to exclude 240 agricultural products out of a total of 1,452 from the tariff cut proposals exchanged with Canada during the seventh round of free trade agreement talks, the government said yesterday.
President Roh Moo-hyun, a self-proclaimed master at debating, tried to go on television in August in order to directly appeal to the nation in favor of an early free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States but decided to drop the idea at the strong suggestion of his aides.
US Deputy Trade Representative Karan Bhatia said on September 26 that a deadline will not be the priority on talks regarding a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement.
US Deputy Trade Representative Karan Bhatia said Tuesday the substance of the Korea-US free trade negotiations is more important than any deadline. That suggests the US will not push for a conclusion just to meet the expiry of the Trade Promotion Authority, a fast-track authority for FTAs granted to the Bush administration by Congress, which expires in June next year.
The Japan Business Federation, or Nippon Keidanren, on Tuesday urged the new government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to repair the country's soured relations with China and South Korea in order for Japan to achieve its goal of concluding an economic partnership agreement with ASEAN, China and South Korea.
