South Korea set a target date of ratifying the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with China through parliament at November 26 after a meeting between the government and the ruling Saenuri Party, according to local media reports.
The government and the ruling party on Tuesday held an emergency meeting to discuss pending issues, agreeing to ratify the China-South Korea free trade agreement during a parliamentary plenary session scheduled for Nov. 26.
Kim Yong-Nam, spokesman of the ruling party, was quoted as saying that his party and the government will make efforts to run a consultative body with opposition parties to ratify the free trade accord by the target date.
The spokesman, however, noted that if opposition parties do not support the ratification, the ruling party and the government will consult with each other to approve the free trade deal.
The Saenuri Party, which has a majority in the National Assembly, can ratify the Sino-Korea FTA though opposition parties would be against it.
Seoul and Beijing signed their FTA in June after three years of negotiations. Under the deal, the two sides agreed to eliminate tariffs on more than 90 percent of traded goods each within 20 years after the implementation.
In her parliamentary address in October for next year's budget plan, South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged lawmakers to ratify the trade pact with China rapidly, saying the delayed ratification will make local exporters lose an export opportunity worth 4 billion won (3.5 million U.S. dollars) on a daily basis.
South Korea expected the free trade accord with China to raise its real GDP by 0.95 percentage points and create 53,800 new jobs in the next 10 years.
Now, China is South Korea's largest trading partner, while Seoul is Beijing's third-biggest trade partner as a single country. Trade volume between the two nations increased to 235.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.
