India trade pact talks set for Seoul

The industry ministry said Wednesday that the 13th round of negotiations to improve South Korea's trade pact with India will run in Seoul through Friday, seeking to expand bilateral commerce and investment.

The round will update the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA. About 60 government officials will take part, including an Indian negotiating delegation traveling to Seoul. Lee Min-young, acting director general for trade agreement negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, will lead South Korea's side, while Kapil Chaudhary, a director at India's commerce ministry, will head the Indian delegation.

The talks began in 2016 but were suspended amid differences between the two countries. They resumed after an April South Korea-India summit, and the Seoul meeting follows the 12th round, held in New Delhi in May, by about three months.

India, the world's most populous emerging market, has about 1.43 billion people and gross domestic product of $4 trillion. Korea's trade with India totaled $25.6 billion in 2025, about one-tenth of its trade with ASEAN, which has a similar economic scale to India.

Citing the gap, the ministry said it would "build a foundation for economic cooperation encompassing not only traditional market opening but also supply chains and industrial cooperation between the two countries."

Negotiators will test the scope for opening core goods and services markets, discuss mutual interests under rules of origin and address trade technical barriers. They will also discuss the operating plan and major agenda of the Korea-India Industrial Cooperation Committee, created at the April summit. The sides will consider how to form its subcommittees and schedule future meetings.