By Ryu Jin
Korea Times Correspondent


MEXICO CITY _ President Roh Moo-hyun and Mexican President Vicente Fox on Friday agreed to exert their utmost efforts to conclude an economic cooperation pact, instead of a free trade agreement (FTA), at an early date.

In a joint statement issued after a one-hour summit here, the two heads of state said South Korea and Mexico agreed to make efforts to sign a ``strategic economic complementation agreement (SECA)’’ at the earliest possible date to develop their partnership.

Since last year, the two counties have pushed for an ``economic partnership agreement (EPA),’’ a pact that includes an FTA. But the negotiations have been stalled in recent months as Mexico faces growing domestic opposition.

As an alternative, the two sides decided to turn to the SECA which, according to South Korean officials, is ``one step short of an FTA.’’ Under the pact, the two countries would open up some of the market first, such as government supplies.

``It could be called an 80-percent FTA,’’ Chung Woo-sung, presidential advisor for foreign policy who is accompanying Roh on his 10-day trip to Mexico, Costa Rica and the United States, told reporters.

On the occasion of Roh’s four-day state visit here, the two countries also signed several pacts and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) such as a MOU on the cooperation of Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) services and another on e-government solutions.

During the summit, Roh and Fox also exchanged views on world politics, stressing the need to fortify multilateral systems in the international communities and broaden discussions on reforming the United Nations.

On the North Korean nuclear standoff, Fox reaffirmed his support for Seoul’s efforts to resolve the issue in a peaceful manner through dialogue and negotiations. Roh expressed gratitude for the Mexican support, according to his aides.

Roh explained to Fox South Korea’s high-quality trainer jets, according to the aides. South Korea has recently started mass-production of a supersonic trainer jet, named T-50.

Before the summit talks, Roh had a dinner meeting with ethnic Koreans who are celebrating the centennial of Korean immigration to Mexico this year.

After the visit, Roh will fly to Costa Rica on Sunday.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr