Korea and ASEAN held the first round of negotiations in Seoul from June 8 to 12 to upgrade their two-decade-old FTA across thirteen areas, including digital trade, critical minerals and supply chains. Park Geun-oh, Director-General for Trade Agreement Policy at Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, led the Korean delegation, with Alpana Roy, ASEAN's Director General for International Trade at Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI), representing the ASEAN side. The round delivers on the leaders' previous agreement at the 26th ASEAN-Korea Summit in October 2025 to prepare the upgrade. On the sidelines, negotiators also took the opportunity to hold the Second Joint Committee meeting, reviewing progress against the work plan previously set in April.
The original ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Area (AKFTA) was signed on goods in 2006. While it was followed by agreements on services in 2007 and investment in 2009, the upgrade would mark the first major revision since the pact took effect. In addition to supplying Korea with raw materials and components and serving as a key destination for Korean manufacturers relocating production out of China, ASEAN has grown into Korea's third-largest trading partner, absorbing some USD 122.5 billion in Korean goods in 2025.
The regional track is just one part of a wider Korean push into Southeast Asia. During the October Summit, President Lee Jae Myung proposed a target of USD 300 billion in annual two-way Korea-ASEAN trade by 2029, with Korea signing a bilateral FTA with Malaysia during the same visit. Since then, Korea has also opened FTA upgrade negotiations with Singapore in April. Analysts view the parallel tracks as part of Seoul's effort to secure deeper preferential ties across the region as competition in its largest export markets intensifies. Further negotiating rounds are expected through 2026.
