Representatives from South Korea, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama concluded negotiations for a free trade deal last month, with the final agreement expected to be signed next June. In an email interview, Won-Ho Kim, director of the Latin American studies program and of the Center for International Cooperation and Strategy at the Graduate School of International and Area Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, discusses South Korea’s trade relations with Central America.
WPR: How extensive is trade between South Korea and Central America, and what are the expected effects of the recently signed free trade agreement?
Won-Ho Kim: The total trade between South Korea and Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama accounts for less than 10 percent of the total trade between South Korea and Latin America. The volume of trade between South Korea and Central America has actually shrunk from $6.5 billion in 2009 to $4 billion in 2015, a sign of a slowdown in South Korean exports.