Abstract
South Korea is probably the most active state in the surging wave of East Asian regionalism. It has aggressively pursued free trade agreements (FTAs) with partners across the world in the past decade. My study focuses on the particular procedure of South Korea’s FTA formation. I develop a multistage approach to examine how South Korea proposes, negotiates, signs, and ratifies FTAs with other countries. Using South Korea’s data on trade with 122 trading partners from 1995 to 2012, the study offers a systematic examination of various South Korean FTA strategies at these stages. The findings demonstrate both similarities and differences between South Korea and its East Asian counterparts.
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