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South Korea is giving up its status as a developing country at the Word Trade Organization.
This morning's announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump put pressure on the WTO in July to change how it designates developing countries.
Kim Hyesung reports.
South Korea will no longer seek special treatment reserved for developing countries at the WTO in future trade negotiations.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that South Korea has decided to abandon its developing country status given its global economic status with a per capita national income of over 30-thousand U.S. dollars and the external environment with countries like Singapore also giving up their developing country status.
Countries with WTO developing nation status are given special treatment such as longer transition periods for implementing trade agreements and technical assistance.
South Korea has maintained its developing country status since 1995 in the area of agriculture following the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, with higher tariffs on goods like rice.
The minister said South Korea won't be given special treatment as a WTO developing nation in future trade agreements but there won't be any changes to previously signed trade deals.
He added the South Korean government will do everything it can to protect sensitive agricultural areas in future WTO negotiations and provide financial support for farmers.
The decision comes after President Trump in July accused some countries including South Korea, that are among the world’s richest economies, of abusing the developing nation status.
He said the U.S. will stop treating such countries as developing nations should the WTO fail to make substantial progress after 90 days, which was October 23rd.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
