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COPYRIGHT 2004 Asia Pulse Pty Ltd
SEOUL, March 31 Asia Pulse - South Korea's first free trade agreement (FTA), signed with Chile, will take effect on Thursday, giving added impetus to the country's robust exports amid sluggish domestic consumption, officials said today.
South Korea managed to ratify the FTA with Chile in mid-February despite massive protests by farmers, who feared for their already unstable livelihood from an influx of cheap agricultural imports from Chile.
"The FTA with Chile means that Korea now has a solid forward base in the Latin American market," a government official said.
Latin America accounted for 49.5 per cent of South Korea's trade surplus in 2002. South Korea exported US$8.8 billion in goods to Latin American countries, while it imported US$3.74 billion,...
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