South Korea and the Southern Common Market, also known as Mercosur, have opened exploratory discussions on possibly adopting a trade pact.
 
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that the negotiations opened on Monday in Argentina and will run through Tuesday.

The exploratory talks are said to be focusing on ways to pursue trade negotiations which had been put on hold for years. The basic direction of the envisioned pact and its contents were also actively discussed.

The economic bloc of 12 full, associate and observer countries had been passive in pursuing trade pacts with countries outside its bloc, having focused mainly on protecting its member states’ industries.
 
However, South Korea was able to hold the second round of trade and investment consultations with Mercosur earlier in June as some member nations became more open to trade.
 
Mercosur houses 45 percent of the Latin American population and accounts for 52-point-four percent of Latin America’s gross domestic product.