South Korea is slated to participate in the 27th official negotiations this week to discuss the implementation of an Asia-Pacific mega trade deal possibly this year.

The upcoming talks for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will be held in Zhengzhou, China, from Friday. 

RCEP is, in essence, a massive regional trade deal between the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the six countries with which ASEAN has free trade agreements -- Korea, China, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand.

The negotiations were launched in 2012 and are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The six-day talks will be attended by the Korean delegation led by Yeo Han-koo, head of trade negation bureau of the Trade Ministry, with around 45 officials from related ministries.

The participating nations are expected to make efforts to accelerate the negotiations on market access in products, services and investments with the aim of closing the deal within this year.

Amid escalating trade tension between Korea and Japan, the Korean delegation also plans to seek cooperation from the participating nations, explaining Japan’s export curbs may seriously disrupt the international trade order also in RCEP nations. 

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)



Caption: Yeo Han-koo (center), head of trade negation bureau of the Trade Ministry, attends the 26th official negotiations for RCEP on June 28 in Australia. (MOTIE)