A research study submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Business Administration, School of Management

Research report (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2004

While the World Trade Organization plays an important role of free trade system and economic globalisation, Free Trade Agreements provide ways of trade liberalization in areas not covered by WTO. Most of WTO members contracted FT As to broaden their economic relationships with other countries. But, Korea is behind of the global trend of FT A. This research study focuses therefore on the identification of the necessities and strategy for successful FTA for Korea. FTA usually integrates regional countries. Japan, China, and East Asia countries are analyzed to find out the necessities of FTA. Strategic priorities are developed to decide which countries will be the most appropriate partners for Korea. Data was collected by in-depth interviews with key persons working in FTA related areas in Korea and was gathered from secondary sources such as books, reports and other publications. According to the result of the study, two results are identified as critical for the successful FTA for Korea. The first comprises of sorting countries, which are decided by six strategic priorities such as market size, trade competition and complement, FDI introduction, rear market size, trade barrier and transportation cost, and sensitivity of weak industries. The second consists ofrestmcturing, which guides Korea's industrial competitiveness to highly advanced structures through the preparation of future FTAs. This strategy would be generally applicable for any future FT As of Korea.