South Korea, China and Japan will hold their final joint study meeting next week on the feasibility of a free trade agreement between the three Northeast Asian countries, the Trade Ministry in Seoul said Thursday.

The meeting, the seventh of its kind, will be held in Pyeongchang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, from Wednesday to Friday, according to the ministry. During the meeting, the three nations will discuss a draft covering commodities trade and other issues, such as service and investment, and seek to draft a final report on the joint study, the ministry said.

In May, the leaders from the three nations agreed to conclude the joint study before the end of the year. In May 2010, the three launched the project with the aim of concluding it by the end of 2012.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said earlier that Seoul needs to consider a free trade agreement with Beijing in order to keep up with other nations that have been seeking to expand their trade with China.

Free trade talks between Seoul and Tokyo have been stalled since late 2004, mainly because of Japan’s reluctance to lower tariffs on agricultural goods.

The two countries started preliminary talks to resume the stalled negotiations in June 2008 and have since met four times, including the latest meeting in December 2009. 

(Yonhap News)