South Korea and six Central American countries, including El Salvador and Panama, launched their first round of negotiations for a free trade agreement Monday.
  

The start of negotiations for the seven-way FTA is the result of the countries' trade ministers agreeing to sign a high-level, comprehensive FTA three months ago.
  

The six Central American countries include Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Together, the six countries make up the fifth-largest market in Central and South America in terms of their combined gross domestic product, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has said.
  

The proposed FTA with South Korea, if signed, will be the Central American countries' first free trade pact with an Asian state.
  

This week's talks in Seoul are set to end Friday.
  

Trade volume between South Korea and the six countries nearly doubled over the past 10 years to reach US$5 billion in 2014, according to the trade ministry. (Yonhap)