FTAs have greater impact on S. Korea than Japan: report

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has benefited more from free trade
agreements (FTAs) than Japan, fueling the need for more such arrangements in the
future, a report by a local think tank said Sunday.

The findings by the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) showed South
Korean trade with the four economies with which it has FTAs rising 1.2-3.2 fold
compared to when it had no such arrangements.
It also said exports with the European Free Trade Association, Singapore, Chile
and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gained 1.2-4.8 fold.
SERI, one of the country's leading private think tanks, added that the extent of
Seoul's gains can be discerned more clearly if FTAs with large economic blocs are
excluded and only Chile and Singapore are examined.
"Trade between South Korea and Singapore jumped 1.5 percent, while numbers for
Japan gained 0.7 percent," said Kim Hwa-nyeon, a chief researcher at SERI.
He added that while trade between South Korea and Chile gained 1.7 percent, gains
of 1.0 percent were tallied in two-way exchanges involving Japan and the South
American country.
Kim stressed that even the negative fallout from FTAs has been moderate compared
to earlier concerns.
"There were no surges in imports of farm products like pork and grapes that had
raised fears when the FTA with Chile went into effect in April 2004," the expert
said.
The SERI economists, meanwhile, claimed that Seoul should sign and ratify FTAs
with the United States and the European Union (EU) as soon as possible.
South Korea signed an FTA with the U.S., which is awaiting parliamentary
approval, while a pact with the EU has been effectively reached.
He said that another way to gain more benefits from open trading regimes is to
sign individual FTAs with each of the 10 ASEAN countries, which Japan has done.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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