Korea to sweeten offer at next EU FTA talks
Chosun Ilbo | 15 November 2007
Korea to Sweeten Offer at Next EU FTA Talks
Korea plans to accept a number of the European Union’s demands for lifting tariffs on EU goods in the fifth round of the Korea-EU free trade agreement talks slated for Nov. 19 in Brussels, Belgium. Korea will also make concessions on auto technology standards, one of the biggest obstacles in the negotiations.
Korea’s chief negotiator Kim Han-soo said in a press conference Wednesday, "We’ve greatly improved our tariff offers, and we’ll send the revised offers to the EU before the fifth round. We’ve already discussed the matter with the relevant ministries."
But Korea is also determined to draw concessions from the EU on Korea’s major export products like cars and electronics. "We’re planning to strike a deal in all the thorny areas in the fifth round," Kim said. "We hope it doesn’t happen, but if the EU makes additional demands on top of our concessions, we’ll also take strong actions.”
Another government official said he expects the two sides will reach agreements in many areas in the upcoming round, but the possibility exists that the negotiations may falter if they fail to make a breakthrough, as happened with Japan.
