S Korea expects FTA talks with China to end before APEC summit

South Korea's trade minister said negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with China was expected to reach a conclusion before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit set to be held in November in Beijing, local media reported Wednesday.

Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick told reporters Monday that a significant progress will be made in the China-South Korea FTA talks in the foreseeable future, saying the Chinese side has wanted the negotiations to be concluded before the APEC summit. Yoon's remarks made at the meeting with reporters were embargoed till Wednesday.

Yoon said the South Korean side expressed its willingness to wrap up the talks, which was launched in May 2012, ahead of the summit meeting scheduled for Nov. 10-11 in Beijing.

The 13th round of FTA talks will be held before the end of this month, and working-level officials of the two sides will continue to meet, following the 13th round, for the so-called in-between dialogues to adjust details, said the minister.

Negotiations for the bilateral trade pact gained momentum after Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul and talks with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye, where the two heads of state agreed to make efforts to end the talks within this year.

The pressure trade ministers of the two countries felt was " enormous" as the two presidents agreed to strike the deal before the end of this year, Yoon said.

Yoon and his Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the so-called ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Plus Three forum, which was held last week in Myanmar.

The latest round of FTA negotiations was held in mid-July, but the two sides failed to make much progress.