WT/REG339/M/2  
12 December  2022 
(22-9226) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Hundred and Fifth Session   
 
 
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA AND TÜRKIYE  (SERVICES ) 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF  14 NOVEMBER  2022 
Chairm an: Ambassador H.E. Mr. Taeho LEE (Republic of Korea ) 
1.1.  The 10 5th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter "CRTA" or the 
"Committee") was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/ 30/Rev.1  dated 4 November  2022.  
1.2.  Under Agenda Item F.I of the Session, the CRTA considered  the Agreement between the 
Republic of Korea and Türkiye , services  (hereinafter "the Agreement"). The Chairman stated that 
the factual presentation had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own responsibility in full 
consultation with the Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7(b)  of the Transparency Mechanism for 
Regional Trade Agreements (document WT/L/671).  
1.3.  The Agreement had entered into force on  1 August 2018 . It had been notified on 
21 February  2022 under Article V:7(a) of the GATS  (documents  S/C/N/10 78) as an agreement 
establ ishing a free trade area for trade in services  within the meaning of Article V of the GATS . The 
text of the Agreement and its Annexes were available on the Parties' official websites and in the 
WTO RTA database. The Factual Presentation on the services asp ects of the Agreement 
(document  WT/REG339/4 dated 23 August 2022) and questions and replies on the Agreement 
(document WT/REG 339/5 dated 2 November 2022) had been distributed . The goods aspect s of the 
Agreement , notified under Article  XXIV:7(a) of the GATT  1994, had been considered by the 
Committe e in 2014.  
1.4.  The representative of the Republic of Korea  stated that official discussions to conclude the FTA 
between Korea and Türkiye  had been  launched in 2010. The Agreement on trade i n goods first came 
into effect in May 2013 and the Agreement on trade in services had been  concluded in 
February  2015. The Agreement had entered into force alongside the Agreement on trade in 
investment on 1  August 2018.  
1.5.  The Agreement aimed to gradually liberalize trade in services between the Parties, in 
conformity with the GATS . It consist ed of three chapters : general provisions , electronic commerce 
and final provisions. The Agreement also dealt with rules on the temporary movement of natural 
persons, telecommunication services and financial services that were outlined in the form of 
Annexes .  
1.6.  The Agreement, together with the Agreement on trade in investment  and the Agreement on 
trade in goods, had laid a solid foundation for a comprehensive trade relationship between Korea 
and Türkiye , and was expected to elevate economic cooperation between the countries to even 
greater heights.  
1.7.  Before the agreement s on trade in services and investment had entered into force, the majority 
of Korean firms that made inroads into Türkiye 's markets had been  engaged in automobile, 
auto-parts, steel and other manufacturing sectors. However, since the agreements had entered into 
force, the areas of business cooperation had begun to encompass service s industries such as 
e-commerce and entertainment, further enhancing bilateral economic ties.  WT/REG339/M/2  
 
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  1.8.  The FTA between Korea and Türkiye , was regarded as having been smoothly implemented 
through various implementing bodies. The Joint Com mittee , as an overarching body,  had held five 
meetings thus far. The implementation of the Agreement was being supervised and assessed by the 
Committee on Trade in Services which had been established pursuant to the Framework Agreement. 
The Committee had held two meetings since 2018.  
1.9.  The representative of Türkiye  thanked the Secretariat for its efforts during the preparation 
process of the factual presentation of the Agreement. The multilateral system under the WTO and 
bilateral negotiations via RTAs complemented each other to create a better business climate and 
improve international trade.   
1.10.  As an active participant in RTA negotiations, Türkiye had 22 FTAs in force, most of which 
cover ed goods. However, believing in the compl ementary and enabling functions of other subjects 
like trade in services and investment, it had been negotiating compreh ensive RTAs. In particular the 
ones negotiated after 2016 had been  new generation comprehensive RTAs which included specific 
sections or chapters on trade in services and investment. Hence, Türkiye was trying to broaden its 
comprehensive RTA network both t hrough negotiating comprehensive texts from the launch of 
negotiations or by expanding the scope of existing  RTAs into services and investment, where needed.  
1.11.  The Factual Presentation already provided detailed information and a quite comprehensive 
explanat ion about the structure and content of the Agreement. He wanted to briefly touch upon 
some important points regarding the Agreement.   
1.12.  Thanks to strong commercial and cultural ties between Türkiye and Korea dating back many 
years ago, Korea provided quite s ignificant investment inflows to Türkiye. As a consequence of such  
a strong relationship, both parties  had agreed to expand the scope of the Agreement on goods into 
services and investment. The Agreement had been  signed on 26 February 2015 and entered into  
force simultaneously with the Agreement on investment.  
1.13.  The Agreement consisted of three main chapters, namely trade in services, electronic 
commerce and final provisions , with four Annexes covering the temporary movement of natural 
persons for the purpos e of supplying services, telecommunications services, financial services and 
schedule s of specific commitments.  
1.14.  The Parties had followed a similar perspective as in the GATS which covered all modes of 
supply with a positive -list approach for scheduling co mmitments. In line with Article V of the GATS, 
Türkiye had undertaken additional liberalization in its schedule of specific commitments compared 
to its GATS commitments in different sectors and sub -sectors such as business services, 
construction, financial  services and recreational, cultural and sporting services.   
1.15.  The Agreement also had a review provision for the commitments of the Parties every two 
years. The Agreement also provided that if Türkiye concluded an agreement using a negative -list 
approach, Ko rea may request the launch of negotiations with the aim of converting the Agreement 
into a negative -list one.  
1.16.  He reiterated Türkiye's appreciation to the Secretariat for the preparation of the factual 
presentation and to the Members of the Committee for t heir participation and active contribution to 
the process. He also thanked Korean colleagues for their close cooperation  and Canada and the UK 
for their valuable questions, which gave the parties  the opportunity to further elaborate on the 
Agreement.  
1.17.  The Chair expressed his condolences to the families of victims of explosions the day before in 
Istanbul and wished those injured a quick recovery. He then opened the floor for comments by 
Members.  
1.18.  The representative of the United States  thanked the Parties for their presentations and their 
participation in the transparency exercise.  
1.19.  The representative of the European Union  welcomed the Agreement and wished the Parties 
success in its implementation.  WT/REG339/M/2  
 
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  1.20.  The representative of Japan  thanked the Parties for their comprehensive and informative 
statements. He appreciated the efforts made by the Parties and the Secretariat in preparing the 
factual presentation  and wished the Parties success in the implementation o f the Agreement.  
1.21.  The representative of Canada  thanked the Members who took part in the work of the 
Committee. He thanked the Parties for their presentation of the Agreement and the ir replies to 
Canada's written questions.  
1.22.  The Chair noted that the consider ation of the Agreement establishing an Agreement between 
the Republic of Korea and Türkiye  had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of questions and 
conclude oral discussion of the RTA in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Transparency 
Mechanism. Any  delegations wishing to ask follow -up questions were invited to forward submissions 
in writing to the Secretariat by 21 November 2022 and the Parties were asked to submit replies in 
writing by no later than 5 December 2022. In accordance with paragraph 13 of the Transparency 
Mechanism all written submissions, as well as the minutes of the meeting would be circulated 
promptly, in all WTO official languages, and made available on the WTO website.  
1.23.  The Committee took note  of the comments made.  
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