Korea joins int'l digital economy agreement

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Korea joins int'l digital economy agreement

Published: 09 Jun. 2023, 09:47 Updated: 09 Jun. 2023, 11:49

Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun, second from left, poses for a photo with his Singaporean, Chilean and New Zealand counterparts after talks on Seoul's joining of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement in Paris Thursday. [MINISTRY OF TRADE, INDUSTRY and ENERGY]

Korea has acceded to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) in an effort to expand its digital trade network, becoming the first partner outside of its founding members of Chile, New Zealand and Singapore, Seoul's Trade Ministry said Friday.

As the world's first plurilateral digital pact, the DEPA calls for establishing rules on digital trade issues, such as digital identities, cross-border data flows and artificial intelligence.

It came into effect in January 2021, and Korea applied to join the pact in September of the same year.

On Thursday, Korea's Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun met with his counterparts from the three DEPA founding members in Paris on the sidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Ministerial Council meeting, and they substantially concluded discussions for Seoul's joining of the pact, according to the Trade Ministry.

"It establishes new approaches and collaborations in digital trade issues, promotes interoperability between different regimes, and addresses the new issues brought about by digitalization," according to a joint press release by the pact signatories.

"Korea had demonstrated the means by which it will comply with the high standards of the Agreement. There was also excellent potential for DEPA parties to work collaboratively on projects of mutual interest, in areas such as electronic invoicing, consumer protection, the exchange of electronic trade documents, and cross border data transfers," according to the release.

Korea seeks to finalize domestic and other procedures for the accession to have it come into force within this year, the ministry said.

China, Canada, Costa Rica and Peru have submitted formal requests to accede to the DEPA, and the official process for the potential accession for China and Canada is now under way.

Yonhap