President Lee says Korea, EU set to conclude FTA negotiations

By Byun Duk-kun
STOCKHOLM, July 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Monday
his country and the European Union will likely announce the successful conclusion
of their negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) during his visit
to Sweden.

Lee is scheduled to wrap up his three-day visit here later Monday after a
meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. He earlier had visited
Poland and Italy where he attended the expanded G-8 summit.
In addition to the G-8 meetings, the purpose of the trip was to meet with
European leaders and reach final agreement on the Korea-EU FTA," Lee said in his
biweekly national radio address, aired in South Korea on Monday. The speech was
pre-recorded in Stockholm on Sunday.
The Lee-Reinfeldt meeting is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. local time (17:15 KST).
South Korea and the European Union (EU) have held eight rounds of talks on the
envisioned free trade accord since May 2007, but the deal has been held off due
to opposition from three EU members -- Poland, Italy and Hungary.
Tariff drawbacks and rules of origin were among key unresolved issues until the
last moment, according to South Korean trade officials.
The EU's Article 133 Committee, in charge of the bloc's trade policies, approved
the final draft of the Korea-EU FTA in its latest meeting in Brussels Friday.
"Fortunately, the negotiations for the Korea-EU FTA that had been protracted due
to opposition from several countries have reached agreement," Lee said.
"I expect (the sides) to be able to declare the end of negotiations after
checking the agreed draft at the summit with the prime minister of Sweden, which
is serving presidency of the EU," he added.
Sweden assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union at the
beginning of the month.
Lee said the Korea-EU FTA, if signed, will bring significant changes and new
meaning to his country's trade industry, noting that it will mean South Korea is
entering a free trade agreement with each and every one of the EU's 27 member
economies.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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