Reserve Bank of India

Now is Best Time for ROK China FTA Former Commerce Minister

Summary: Now is the best time to strike a free trade agreement with China If China grows further it may not think of the deal with South Korea as desperately as now said a former commerce minister In an interview with the Maeil Business Newspaper on June 11 Dr Duck Koo Chung Chairman of the North East Asia Research NEAR Foundation former Minister of Commerce Industry and Energy said there are not many industrial areas yet where China can overwhelm South Korea so we should not be afraid of the FTA with China If signed many products with reasonable prices will flow in from China benefiting South Korean consumers he emphasized However he made clear that South Korea should not use its economic cooperation with China as a tool for the purpose of diplomacy or national security suggesting China will remain aloof from South Korea s diplomatic efforts to gain China s sympathy regarding the Cheonan incident You can t expect Korea China FTA talks will get China closer to South Korea while keeping North Korea at bay He stressed thee Asian countries South Korea China and Japan should intensify their cooperation to achieve One Asia ultimately saying it is too early to create massive market integration that involves ASEAN member countries and India because economic gaps between countries are large in East Asia So the tripartite structure of South Korea China and Japan should be strongly formed before gradual expansion into other Asian countries he said He warned if the scope of integration is scaled up too fast more risks will follow The EU market is a good lesson to learn as debt crises in some European countries rattle the entire euro zone economy Written by Jeong hoon Ahn edited by Soyoung Chung Now is the best time to strike a free trade agreement with China If China grows further it may not think of the deal with South Korea as desperately as now said a former commerce minister In an interview with the Maeil Business Newspaper on June 11 Dr Duck Koo Chung Chairman of the North East Asia Research NEAR Foundation former Minister of Commerce Industry and Energy said there are not many industrial areas yet where China can overwhelm South Korea so we should not be afraid of the FTA with China If signed many products with reasonable prices will flow in from China benefiting South Korean consumers he emphasized However he made clear that South Korea should not use its economic cooperation with China as a tool for the purpose of diplomacy or national security suggesting China will remain aloof from South Korea s diplomatic efforts to gain China s sympathy regarding the Cheonan incident You can t expect Korea China FTA talks will get China closer to South Korea while keeping North Korea at bay He stressed thee Asian countries South Korea China and Japan should intensify their cooperation to achieve One Asia ultimately saying it is too early to create massive market integration that involves ASEAN member countries and India because economic gaps between countries are large in East Asia So the tripartite structure of South Korea China and Japan should be strongly formed before gradual expansion into other Asian countries he said He warned if the scope of integration is scaled up too fast more risks will follow The EU market is a good lesson to learn as debt crises in some European countries rattle the entire euro zone economy Written by Jeong hoon Ahn edited by Soyoung Chung

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