SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and six Central American countries, including El Salvador and Panama, launched their first round of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) Monday.
The start of negotiations for the seven-way FTA is the result of the countries' trade ministers agreeing to sign a high-level, comprehensive FTA three months ago.
The six Central American countries include Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Together, the six countries make up the fifth-largest market in Central and South America in terms of their combined gross domestic product, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has said.
This has been excerpted from a 20 September 2015 news item by the Yonhap News Agency and is available in its entirety at: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/search1/2603000000.html?cid=AEN20150921000900320