EU, South Korea to hold trade talks

SEOUL, June 29 (UPI) -- Trade ministers from South Korea and the European Union will discuss a bevy of trade issues when they meet this week, officials said.

Among other issues, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson and South Korea trade minister Kim Jong-hoon planned to discuss a possible free-trade agreement during two days of talks beginning Monday, Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday.

Since entering into a free-trade agreement with the United States last year, South Korea has held seven rounds of negotiations with the EU to boost trade with the 27-nation economic bloc.

The European Union is South Korea's second-largest trading partner after China.

In May, EU and South Korean officials reported "significant" progress in their negotiations, saying they had agreed to reach a deal within the year.

Seoul has offered to remove all tariffs on most industrial goods within three years, and eliminate tariffs on roughly 72 percent of EU goods, but the EU says the deal is not as sweet as the one South Korea reached with the United States.

The EU is demanding that South Korea cut tariffs on cars and other products to the same extent that it did in the trade deal with Washington.