S Korea, Australia to sign free trade deal this week

SEOUL, Apr 7 (AFP): South Korea and Australia will sign a free trade deal this week, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said Monday, after four years of negotiations on the pact.

"Tomorrow, we will sign a free trade agreement with Australia," Park said at a meeting of her top aides, according to a media pool report.

The deal will take South Korea's total number of free trade agreements to ten, involving a total of 47 countries, she said, with others including the United States, the European Union, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and India.