South Korea and China will hold their second round of free trade talks next
week following a similar meeting in May, Seoul's trade ministry said
Wednesday.
During the three-day meeting that starts on the southern
island of Jeju, South Korea, on Tuesday, both sides will discuss the scope of
their free trade deal and set up working groups on each segment, according to
the ministry.
In early May, the two countries announced the launch of
the formal free trade negotiations expecting the talks to take two
years.
China is South Korea's largest trading partner, with bilateral
trade expected to reach US$300 billion by 2015.
Since 2008, South
Korea and China had held a series of joint feasibility studies on a possible
free trade deal and exchanged views on sensitive issues.
Agriculture
and fisheries are considered to be the most sensitive sectors of the South
Korean economy, while China categorizes its manufacturing industries, which
include the automobile, machinery and oil sectors, as sensitive.