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PRESS/TPRB/304 
8 October 2008 
 
(08-4689) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: REPUBLIC OF KOREA 
Stable growth that continued reform can help to maintain 
Korea’s prudent macroeconomic policies together with ongoing structural reforms, including liberalization of its trade and investment regime s, have contributed to stable economic growth 
averaging 4,8% annually since its previous review  in 2004, according to a WTO Secretariat report 
on the trade policies and practices of the Republic of Korea.  
Korea’s economy has continued to become more  outward oriented, with trade in goods and 
services rising from 83% of GDP in 2004 to approximately 90% in 2007. Nevertheless, no unilateral MFN tariff liberalization was undertaken during this period, as opposed to the intensive 
pursuit of bilateral free-trade agreements, and the persistence of state ownership in 
telecommunications and transport services has maintained insufficient competition and low labour productivity in these areas. 
 
The Government can help to maintain Korea’s growth by continuing with structural reforms, especially those aimed at improving the investment climate, addressing labour market rigidities 
and other related reforms like privatization and regula tory reforms, to increase the flexibility of the 
Korean economy and achieve more competitiveness and increased productivity.  
The WTO report, along with a policy statement by th e Government of the Republic of Korea, will be 
the basis for the fifth TPR of Korea by the Tr ade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 8 and 
10 October 2008. 
 
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp304_e.htm  
 
• Secretariat reports 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  > Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
• Report by Government of Republic of Korea 
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). PRESS/TPRB/304 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO Agreement, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Norway: 22 and 24 October 2008 
Jordan: 10 and 12 November 2008 
Dominican Republic: 24 and 26 November 2008 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
 
END