S Korea, Vietnam to hold trade negotiations

South Korea and Vietnam are set to hold the first round of negotiations over a two-way free trade agreement, the foreign ministry here said Wednesday. South Korea's trade minister Park Tae-ho and his counterpart Vu Huy Hoang will meet in Seoul next Monday for two-day talks on the scope and terms of the trade pact, which they agreed to forge earlier this month. A joint feasibility study on the trade accord was completed last year. South Korea already has a similar accord with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where Vietnam is a member, but is seeking a separate trade deal to strengthen the strategic partnership with Vietnam, the ministry said in a statement. Bilateral trade volume between the two countries totaled 18.5 billion U.S. dollar last year.