South Korea and Russia have started free trade negotiations in the service and investment sectors... to diversify Korea's export portfolio and cope with growing protectionism around the globe.
The announcement by Seoul's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee on Thursday comes after the two countries agreed to start discussing a service and investment free trade agreement in June last year.
The recent talks with Moscow are the latest in a series of efforts by Korea to expand its FTA networks and reduce its trade dependency on the U.S. and China.
Seoul-Moscow trade talks are also part of Korea's so-called New Northern Policy that aims to boost ties with Eurasian countries.