A Japan-South Korea joint study group will next week hold its first meeting to discuss the feasibility of a bilateral free-trade agreement, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
During the two-day meeting, to start Tuesday in Seoul, panel members will discuss sectors to be included in an FTA, as well as how to hold future discussions of the envisioned bilateral agreement, a ministry official said.
The study panel will comprise 10 Japanese and 14 South Korean representatives from the government, business and academic sectors, the official said.
The Japanese side will include senior officials of the Foreign Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the official said.
Other Japanese members include Yoshiaki Onuki, head of a Japan-South Korea industrial cooperation committee at the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren); Kyoji Fukao, professor of international economics at Hitotsubashi University; and Masahiro Konno, head of the international policy department at the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (Zenchu), the official said.