The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced that the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) member countries, namely Singapore, New Zealand, Chile, and Korea, held a virtual DEPA Joint Committee meeting today to take stock of accession negotiations progress and future plans.


This May, Korea became the first country outside of DEPA’s founding membership to complete accession. Other countries such as China and Costa Rica have also applied for accession to DEPA, for which negotiations are ongoing.


During today’s Joint Committee meeting, members discussed the launching of an accession working group to steer Peru’s accession negotiations, of which Korea will serve as Chair. Through this opportunity, it is anticipated that Korea can actively contribute to DEPA’s further development into a global platform for digital trade norms.