S Korea not to hurry in reaching FTA with China: minister

South Korea's trade minister said Monday that the country will not hurry to reach the free trade agreement (FTA) with China to ensure an internal stability in the bilateral trade pact.

Asked by a ruling party lawmaker why the ministry is in a hurry to reach the FTA with China, Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick told the parliamentary audit that the country will not get pressed for a deadline while seeking to ensure an internal stability of the negotiations.

Asked whether Seoul has a plan to sign a preliminary FTA with Beijing during the upcoming APEC summit, Yoon said it would be hard to initial the FTA during the summit, noting that South Korea will focus on the content of the negotiations without bearing the deadline in mind.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is set to be held for Nov. 10-11 in Beijing where Chinese President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye are expected to hold a separate summit meeting.

Negotiations for the bilateral trade pact gained momentum after Xi's July visit to Seoul and talks with Park, where the two leaders of state agreed to make efforts to end the negotiations within this year.

The 13th round of China-South Korea FTA talks, first launched in May 2012, was held in September when the two sides narrowed gaps in the investment sector.

Following the 13th round, Beijing and Seoul has continued the so-called in-between dialogues between working-level officials to narrow differences in sensitive sectors, especially on how to liberalize the goods markets.