Korea and ASEAN hold second round of talks to upgrade their free trade agreement
28 September 2026
Korea and the ASEAN countries met in Singapore for the second official round of talks on upgrading the Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.
The round ran for four days.
The Korean team was led by Park Geun-oh, Director General for Trade Agreement Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
The two sides worked through improvements across thirteen negotiating areas.
Among them are digital trade, rules on where a good is counted as originating, protection of intellectual property, and supply chains for critical minerals.
The existing agreement is old: its Agreement on Trade in Goods took effect in 2007.
Both sides are aiming at rules of a higher standard than those in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, to which both are parties.
In plain words
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations — A ten-member grouping of Southeast Asian countries with its Secretariat in Jakarta.
MOTIR Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources — The Korean ministry that negotiates the country's trade agreements.