1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

S. Korea, EU to hold high-level talks for FTA implementation [English, CSY]       

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/06/16/97/0502000000AEN20110616006900320F.HTML

Summary: Senior trade officials from South Korea and the European Union (EU) will hold a meeting next week to check preparations and processes for the implementation of their bilateral free trade accord, Seoul's trade ministry said Thursday.  During the meeting in Seoul on Tuesday, Choi Seok-young, Seoul's chief negotiator for the free trade talks, and his EU counterpart Ignacio Bercero will discuss overall issues related to the free trade agreement (FTA), scheduled to take effect on July 1, it said.

S. Korea, China agree on efforts for FTA [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/06/16/0502000000AEN20110616005100320.HTML

Summary: South Korea and China have agreed to make efforts for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) to boost trade and further deepen economic ties, Seoul's trade ministry said Thursday.  The agreement came at Wednesday's high-level talks held on South Korea's southernmost resort island of Jeju, in which both sides shared views that a bilateral free trade pact will solidify their economic and trade relations, according to the ministry.

Korea-Peru FTA Ratification Bill Submitted to Trade Comm. of Korea's Natl. Assembly [English, CSY]

http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=117158&code=Ne2&category=2

Full text: Korean lawmakers submitted a ratification bill on Thursday to the National Assembly's foreign affairs and trade committee for the free trade agreement between Korea and Peru.  After the deal was signed by the two countries back in March, translation errors in the Korean language text were corrected and the bill now awaits review at a legislative subcommittee.  The trade committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing next Friday where members will listen to what experts have to say.  Once ratified, the two-way deal will gradually eliminate all tariffs within the next ten years.

2. MARKETING ISSUES

S. Korea's farm trade deficit with China widens sharply [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/06/16/0501000000AEN20110616003700320.HTML

Summary: South Korea's deficit with China in agricultural trade has widened drastically over the last decade due mainly to an avalanche of cheap imports from the neighboring country, a report showed Thursday.  According to the report by the Nonghyup Economic Research Institute (NHERI), South Korea posted a farm trade deficit of US$1.53 billion with China last year, compared with a $1.10 billion shortfall in 2000.

3. NORTH KOREA ISSUES

U.S. seeks to ban Kaesong imports [English, CSY]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2937695

Summary: A recent executive order issued by U.S. President Barack Obama is partly aimed at banning the import of products made at an inter-Korean industrial park in Kaesong, a North Korean border town, ahead of the ratification of a free trade pact with South Korea, a Congress-affiliated researcher said Wednesday.   Dick Nanto, a specialist in industry, trade and foreign affairs with the Congressional Research Service (CRS), noted that the April executive order prohibits the direct and indirect entry of North Korean goods