Anchor: Next Tuesday will mark one year since the South Korea-China free trade agreement(FTA) was effectuated. The FTA has liberalized tariffs and eased a fall in exports.
Our Kim In-kyung has more on the first year of the agreement and its challenges ahead.
 
Report: Since the bilateral free trade agreement(FTA) went into effect last December, South Korea and China began a process of eliminating tariffs on up to 90 percent of goods within 20 years.
 
Immediately after the deal took effect, China knocked out tariffs on 958 items worth about eight-point-seven billion dollars of annual shipments. South Korea opened up its markets to some eight billion dollars' worth of Chinese goods.
 
Less than two weeks later on January first, additional tariffs were eliminated for year-two of the FTA.
 
The FTA has helped ease a fall in South Korea's exports to China. South Korean exports to China fell ten-point-one percent on-year in the first half of this year. However, exports benefitting from the trade pact only fell six-point-seven percent.
 
Despite the uplifting note, challenges remain to boost trade between the two nations.
 
As Beijing has reinforced nurturing its domestic market, it has been building walls to trade such as nontariff barriers and antidumping regulations.
 
Seoul's decision to deploy the U.S. missile defense system THAAD on its territory and trade conflicts between the U.S. and China are additional challenges that South Korean corporations will have to overcome.
 
Vice Trade Minister Woo Tae-hee said at a recent meeting that Seoul will respond strongly to violations of international norms. Citing FTA and WTO regulations, Woo said the government will take action so that South Korean firms won't be subject to unfair practices.
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.