 
 
     PRESS RELEASE 
EMBARGO  
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL 
1500 GENEVA TIME ( 1300 GMT ) 17 SEPTEMBER 2004  
 
PRESS/TPRB/235 
17 September 2004 
 
(04-3901) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: REPUBLIC OF KOREA 
Further trade liberalization and st ructural reforms, the key to 
sustained growth 
Korea’s economy has achieved an impressive recovery from the Asian crisis, with its GDP per 
capita having been restored to pre-crisis levels, according to a report on the trade policies and practices of the Republic of Korea released on September 17 by the WTO Secretariat. 
 
This economic recovery has undoubtedly been fost ered by wide-ranging structural reforms and the 
maintenance of outward-oriented trade and investment policies as far as manufacturing and 
services are concerned. The recovery was also facilitated by a favourable external economic 
environment, the report says.   
Nonetheless, the WTO Secretariat report notes that Korea faces several related economic 
challenges. These include sluggish domestic demand , resulting in possible over-reliance on exports 
as the main source of current growth, and the need for further trade liberalization and structural 
reforms to develop a more competitive economy.  
 The WTO report, along with a policy statement by th e Government of the Republic of Korea, will be 
the basis for the fourth Trade Policy Review (TPR ) of the Republic of Korea by the Trade Policy 
Review Body of the WTO on 15 and 17 September 2004.  
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp230.htm  
 
• Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  > Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  > Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
• Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). PRESS/TPRB/235 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
 Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Rwanda : 28 and 30 September 2004 
Norway : 11 and 13 October 2004 
European Union : 25 and 27 October 2004 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
END 