South Korea and the European Union are set to launch free trade talks today, a deal both countries have said would encourage bilateral commerce and complement efforts to forge a global trade pact. South Korea, fresh from concluding landmark trade deal with the US, expects to become a free trade hub linking America and Europe and to steal a march on its commercial rivals China and Japan. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-Chong have called ‘for rapid progress’ in a joint statement on Sunday as they formally launched the round. Speaking in the free trade talks Mandelson has said that the bilateral free trade agreements do not contradict efforts to forge a multilateral deal under the World Trade Organization, but helped fill key gaps. It seems that by launching the recent free trade talks with the EU, South Korea has appeared as one of the most forceful unit in quest of bilateral trade deals. After confirming a free-trade pact with the US in early April, it lost no time to turn its attention to an even bigger agreement with the EU, which was its largest trade partner after China last year. However, the deal is expected to prove less contentious than the pioneering trade deal it signed with the US. South Korea thinks that a successful deal with the EU would benefit its big businesses like Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. reduce their heavy dependence on Japan for parts imports. Strategically, South Korea anticipates that free trade with the EU and the US will help boosting its export-driven economy and ward off some economic pressure from China and Japan, which compete with South Korea in an extensive range of exports, however, they have not entered in any free-trade deals with the EU or the US. Negotiators from both countries are scheduled to start their first round of talks in Seoul today, lasting through this week. However, no deadline has been set for the conclusion of the deal but both sides have expressed to reach an early conclusion. Both countries have decided to hold four or five rounds this year and alternate between Seoul and Brussels to reach an agreement quickly. Free-trade deal would help South Korea in its crucial exports, such as cars, textiles and electronics, in the European market, where they at present enter with up to 14 percent tariffs. On the other hand, EU expects to push more European cars, pharmaceuticals, machinery and cosmetics in South Korea through the deal. South Korean trade with the EU enlarged 10.7 percent last year to $78.6 billion, falling well behind $118 billion with China but surpassing closely $78.5 billion with Japan and $76.8 billion with the US. South Korea is the fourth-largest non-European trade partner for the EU. A free trade deal between the EU and South Korea would prove to be a ‘complementary’ agreement to vacillating Doha round multilateral global trade talks, since it would include non-tariff issues such as relaxing government regulations and protecting intellectual property rights. South Korea will also look for easier access to the EU’s shipping, telecom and audio-visual service sectors and aim to send more professionals such as architects, veterinarians and nurses through a mutual recognition agreement. While the EU is expected to put thrust on for services sectors such as finance, telecom, law and accounting. The free trade talks may add as much as 40 billion euros or $54.4 billion a year to EU exports, the European Commission had said last month, without offering a breakdown. The eventual agreement is expected to escalate South Korea’s gross domestic product by as much as 24 trillion won or $25.9 billion, said a study by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.