South Korea to improve labour rights under EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement A comprehensive joint statement on labour rights was adopted during an EU-Korea meeting on 9 and 10 September about trade and sustainable development under the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA). © Aleksandar Mijatovic / Shutterstock.com It includes concrete initiatives for South Korea to ratify and further apply International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. The EU asked South Korea to speed up efforts to ratify the four ILO core labour Conventions it has not yet ratified on freedom of association collective bargaining forced labour Both parties also agreed to launch an EU-funded project for the implementation of a fundamental ILO Convention on non-discrimination in employment and occupation. The joint statement furthermore includes a clear mention of both the EU's and Korea's commitment to an ambitious Environmental Goods Agreement by the end of the year. It was the fourth meeting on the trade and sustainable development chapter of the Free Trade Agreement. EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement The EU-Korea FTA was the first of a new generation of FTAs concluded by the European Union. It goes further than any previous agreements in lifting trade barriers, with commitments on labour rights, a follow-up system involvement of social partners and civil society. Trade between EU and South Korea has considerably expanded since its entry into force in July 2011.