By Seo Jee-yeon
Staff Reporter

SOGWIPO, Cheju _ Korea will start free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Canada within this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) said Wednesday.

``Trade ministers of the two countries agreed to launch the trade pact negotiations as soon as possible over the phone,’’ said Lee Gun-tae, MOFAT’s director general for bilateral trade, in a press briefing held at the Shilla Hotel in Cheju.

When asked about a more specific timeline, Kim said he expects the negotiations will be kicked off within this year.

The talks between Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and his Canadian counterpart Jim Peterson were made on the sidelines of the 2005 APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) taking place in Cheju between June 1-3.

Minister Kim held talks with four APEC member countries _ Canada, Taiwan, Vietnam and Australia _ in the morning on the first day of 2005 APEC MRT.

Both sides wrapped up preliminary meetings for FTA talks in March this year, but the talks have been put on hold as Canada requires more time for national consensus over the negotiations, Lee added.

``Both ministers are determined to push for the FTA talks regardless of the circumstances, satisfying the results of two preliminary meetings aimed at reviewing the feasibility of the Korea-Canada FTA,’’ Lee said.

Meanwhile, Korean Trade Minister Kim agreed to allow Vietnam to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) in talks with Vietnam’s Vice Trade Ministry Van Tu Luong, Lee said.

Since January 2002, Vietnam has been engaged in negotiations on market access for goods and services with WTO members, including Korea, in order to gain entry approval to the world trade organization at the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong this December.

Korea had held nine bilateral talks with Vietnam to discuss tariffs on exports goods before it agreed to allow the South East Asian country to enter the WTO.

Taiwan’s Trade Minister Mey-Yueh Ho raised the need to conduct joint research on the gap in trade surplus statistics between the two countries.

Taiwan said it posted a deficit of $6.27 billion in its trade with Korea last year, while Korea’s statistics indicate the surplus was at $2.5 billion won.

``Korea also called for Taiwan not to disadvantage Korean apple and pear imports in line with the ban on apple and pear imports from third countries due to safety concerns,’’ Lee said.

``During the trade discussion with Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile, Korea’s counterpart Kim asked to take an anti-dumping inquiry on Korean home appliance goods like washing machines,’’ Lee added.

On June 3, Kim will hold bilateral talks with U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman at the same venue.

jyseo@koreatimes.co.kr