S. Korea-Australia FTA to benefit both countries: Rudd

SYDNEY, May 30 (Yonhap) -- A free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and Australia would benefit both nations and should be concluded by the end of this year, Australia's foreign minister said. The remarks by Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd came after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard agreed in April to complete negotiations for the deal within this year, the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the nations. "These are tough negotiations. Korea wants some access in some sensitive areas of Australia. That's normal. We want access to some sensitive areas in Korea. That's normal," Rudd said Friday in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency at a Sydney hotel. "So, like most things, it's a deal. And I'm confident we can get there. And it will be good for both economies," he added, saying that he "fully supports" the two leaders' goal to reach a conclusion by the year's end. South Korea is Australia's third-largest export market, with bilateral trade reaching US$27 billion last year. Talks for the free trade agreement were launched in 2009, aiming to tear down tariffs and other barriers to trade. "If we look at these two trillion-dollar economies, together we make a $2.5 trillion economy if we have an increasingly seamless market between us," Rudd said. The minister also reaffirmed his country's support for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and blamed North Korea for continuously putting obstacles in the way. "Australia also supports a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. But the principle violation there lies with the DPRK," Rudd said, referring to North Korea by an acronym for its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. As examples of the North's violations, he cited last year's sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and the artillery bombardment of a South Korean island in which a total of 50 South Koreans were killed. Rudd also pointed out Pyongyang's continued development of nuclear weapons programs. "These do not represent the actions of a friendly state," he said. "The international community, through the United Nations and through other bilateral diplomatic pressure, needs to cause the North Koreans to change their behavior." "Once they have changed their behavior by actions, not by words, then there is an opportunity through the six-party talks process to try and bring this to a peaceful conclusion," he said. The six-party negotiations, involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, have been in a deadlock since late 2008. They aim to dismantle the North's nuclear programs through economic and political incentives.