Talks set for Japan, S. Korea, ASEAN

Talks set for Japan, S. Korea, ASEAN

Japan and South Korea have agreed to begin negotiating a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian nations next year, and the discussions with Japan will wrap up within two years, an official said on Friday.

The Japanese and Korean plans to begin the talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations came as one of their biggest economic rivals, China, prepared to sign parts of a trade pact with the 10-nation group.

Japan and South Korea, which aren't ASEAN members, were invited to join meetings this week at ASEAN's annual summit in the Laotian capital of Vientiane. ASEAN leaders were to meet on Monday and Tuesday.

Ong Keng Yong, ASEAN's secretary-general, told reporters on Friday that Japan has agreed to start talks at an unspecified date early next year. "We just have to get all the officials to sit down," he said.

He said that ASEAN and Japan have agreed on a deadline so that the discussions wouldn't drag on indefinitely.

"The important thing is that we said we must finish our negotiations in two years," he said.

Japan has long been a major source of investment and aid for Southeast Asia. About 60 percent of the region's overseas aid has come from Japan. Last year, Japan pledged US$3 billion in aid to Southeast Asia.

Ong said that ASEAN leaders also planned to meet the South Korean president next year to set up free trade talks. "My understanding is that we should begin negotiations early next year," he said.-- AP