Two years ago today...
Korea's free trade deal with one of the biggest markets in the world -- the European Union,
went into effect.
So how has Korea benefited from the trade pact?
Hwang Ji-hye tells us.
Wine in Korea used to be a luxury that many people just simply didn't want to shell out
their hard-earned money for.
But that changed two years ago with the implementation of the Korea-EU FTA,... when tariff cuts led
to a more than 20 percent drop in European wine prices.
"The price was burdensome before, but now it's so much cheaper that I now enjoy drinking
it."
And it's not just wine.
Consumers now buy European imports such as coffee machines, automobiles and strollers
at much cheaper prices compared to two years ago.
"On top of Korean consumers enjoying cheaper prices of European products like wine,...
Korea's crude oil imports from the EU also soared over the past two years."
Korea imported nearly five billion U.S. dollars worth of oil in the two years since July 1st,
2011,... up from zero imports before the trade pact,... because of the tariff cuts in the
deal and Western sanctions on Iran.
Korean exports to the EU, however,... have slumped...
due to the economic recession among the European nations.
It's no surprise... that Korea recorded a trade deficit of almost five billion dollars...
in the second year of implementation of the free trade deal with the EU -- the first deficit
in 15 years.
But experts say... that the trade pact served as a buffer against an overall drop in eurozone
economies' demand.
"Korea recorded a trade deficit, but the drop in import demand of the European nations was
not as extreme as in other Asian countries like China and Japan."
Experts add... that more time is needed to fully evaluate the impact of the Korea-EU
FTA,... as eurozone nations have been suffering from the prolonged debt crisis for the past
two years.
Hwang Ji-hye, Arirang News.