The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement comes into effect for South Korea, South Korea and Japan will establish bilateral free trade relations for the first time
Xinhua News Agency, Seoul, February 1 (Reporter Zhou Siyu Lu Rui) The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) officially entered into force for South Korea on the 1st.
According to the news previously released by the Korean Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy, the Korean National Assembly passed the RCEP approval on December 2, 2021, and the Korean government formally submitted the approval to the ASEAN Secretariat, the treaty custodian, the next day. The ASEAN Secretariat informed that the RCEP will come into effect for South Korea on February 1, 2022.
According to statistics, exports to RCEP member countries account for half of South Korea’s total exports. With the entry into force of RCEP for South Korea, South Korea and Japan will establish bilateral free trade relations for the first time.
From January 1, RCEP has officially entered into force for 10 countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
RCEP currently has 15 member countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and 10 ASEAN countries, which account for about 30% of the global total in terms of population, economic volume and total trade volume.