SEOUL, Oct. 21 ( Yonhap ) - the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ) will resume not earlier that at the end of this year , with Canada , Australia and New Zealand , who have been suspended for more than three years , said Monday, a Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy of Seoul.
The Vice Commerce Minister Choi Kyung -lim ,said his ministry agreed to resume FTA negotiations with the three countries at the earliest at the end of this year, or , at the latest, early next .
The negotiations with Canada were suspended in July 2005 and in Australia and New Zealand was suspended in 2010.
Australia, Canada and New Zealand are countries taking part in the negotiations of the Trans -Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPP, according to its acronym in English) .
The resumption of FTA negotiations with the three countries gained momentum after the president, Park Geun - hye, show at the recent APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia, his desire to advance bilateral negotiations with member countries of TPP negotiations.
Choi said that if South Korea signed a bilateral FTA with TPP member countries, can easily be brought into the multilateral negotiations when deciding to participate in the TPP in the future, and if you decide not to join the TPP, Korean companies may compete with its rivals from a balanced position.
