서강대학교

초록/요약

In order to ensure stable trade environment and growth of Korea’s trade, it is necessary to diversify the trade market by entering into emerging markets beyond the existing trade structures that are dependent on some countries. In this respect, ASESAN is a fast- and steadily-growing emerging market that is gaining in importance in the world economy. However, although Korea has concluded an FTA with ASEAN in 2007, its use rate is lower than that of other FTAs that Korea has concluded. In addition, Korea's level of entry into ASEAN is also lower than that of its competitors, such as Japan and China, so improvement in this regard is urgently needed. In this context, it is necessary to conclude additional FTAs individually with ASEAN countries, and Korea has increased its trade and investment by signing the Vietnam FTA. The present study argues that, in view of the stable economic growth, geographical advantages, as well as abundant natural resources and labor force of Indonesia, it is appropriate for Korea to conclude an FTA with Indonesia so that to increase Korea’s economic cooperation with AESAN. Specifically, we argue for the necessity of economic cooperation between the two countries through economic analysis of Indonesia and analysis of its economic relations with Korea. Through the Korea-ASEAN FTA and the Korea-Vietnam FTA analysis, the direction and the expected effect of FTA between Korea and Indonesia is obtained. As demonstrated by the result of our analysis, Korea-Indonesia FTA is appropriate in terms of promoting additional liberalization with services, investment and e-commerce agreements, as well as mitigating tariff barriers, such as eliminating tariffs on sensitive track and improving customs procedures. As a result of such cooperation between the two countries, a considerable increase of Korea’s trade and the entry of Korean companies could be expected. Practically, in order to resume further FTA negotiations between Korea and Indonesia, the cause of the breakdown of the CEPA negotiations in the past will need to be resolved. According to the Korean government, the negotiations were suspended due to the conflicting positions of the two countries on the issue of the tariffs on the items of interest of both sides (automobiles, agricultural products, etc.) and the level of protection and demanded investment of Korean investors. Therefore, the most important issue for the Korean government is elaborating the negotiation strategy to solve this problem. In reality, since the government cannot force private companies to enter overseas, the government should aim to establish institutional support to promote such corporate investment.