The governments of South Korea, China and Japan are expected to hold talks on a free trade agreement after their summit in Beijing last Saturday. A tripartite FTA has been under study by private think tanks.

In a press conference after the summit, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said, "I expect that an FTA between the three countries will make progress. I also hope that a tripartite investment pact will be concluded early next year."

At the summit, President Lee Myung-bak also mentioned the FTA. According to Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said, "Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo now need to begin government-level FTA talks to replace the joint private research."

The research has been going on since 2003. "So far, only China has been proactive. Korea has taken a reserved attitude and Japan has been negative," a Ministry of Trade official said. "It's interesting to see Korea and Japan now deciding to get active."

Experts say trilateral negotiations could offer a more efficient basic framework than bilateral FTA talks between any two of the three countries.

Lee Chang-jae, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), said, "A Seoul-Beijing-Tokyo FTA is a more realistic way than bilateral FTAs between Seoul and Beijing and between Seoul and Tokyo to strengthen economic cooperation while opening the doors as wide as possible."