South Korea and China will hold their third round of free trade talks next week
to discuss the scope of the deal and other issues, Seoul's trade ministry said
Thursday.
During the three-day meeting that starts on Wednesday in
Weihai, a city in China's eastern Shandong Province, both sides will also
discuss details about how to proceed with talks on each segment, according to
the ministry.
In early May, the two countries announced the launch of
formal free trade negotiations, expecting the talks to take two years.
The neighboring countries earlier agreed that the talks on a free trade deal
will proceed in two phases, with the handling of sensitive items and the scope
of the trade agreement to be primarily discussed first.
Agriculture
and fisheries are considered to be the most sensitive sectors for South Korea,
while China categorizes its manufacturing industries, which include the
automobile, machinery and oil sectors, as sensitive.
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 have held a series
of joint feasibility studies on a possible free trade deal and exchanged views
on sensitive issues.