The head of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Monday called on the South Korean government to start negotiations to amend the existing free trade agreement with the single market to ensure an equal playing field for businesses operating in the country.

Seoul and the EU discussed the need to amend the six-year-old trade pact in 2015 but there has since been no progress. "The ECCK will appreciate it if the South Korean government and the EU government start negotiations on (a South Korea-EU FTA) amendment package," ECCK President Christoph Heider said in a press conference.

In light of the ramifications of the fourth industrial revolution, the free trade deal, which took effect in July 2011, needs to have "more drastic renovation or updates," he pointed out.

The bottom line is a fair and even playing ground that can offer overall benefits for South Korean and foreign companies alike, Heider said.

But he made it clear that the FTA has been beneficial for South Korea and the EU and that the amendment package being sought by the EU is not a renegotiation but an effort to make it a better deal for both sides.

The press event comes after US President Donald Trump described the five-year-old trade agreement with South Korea as "unsuccessful and not very good" for US companies during his state visit to Korea from Nov. 7-8.

As President Moon Jae-in and President Trump instructed their trade officials to conclude an improved agreement expeditiously, both sides are likely to jump into the renegotiations soon to bring some changes to the "KORUS" FTA.

The European business lobby group appears to be stimulated by the US move to secure more benefits for its companies that trade with South Korea.

The EU delegation is scheduled to have a meeting with South Korean counterparts in Brussels on Dec. 7 for a "constructive dialogue" to improve the EU's first trade deal with an Asian country, the ECCK said.

South Korea is the EU's ninth-largest trading partner, whereas the EU is South Korea's third-largest export market, ECCK said. 

From 2010 to 2016, the EU's exports to Korea jumped 59 percent from 2010 to 2016 and its imports from Korea rose 5 percent. This has allowed the economic bloc to shift from a trade deficit of 11.6 billion euros (US$13.5 billion) into a surplus of 3.1 billion euros during the cited period, it said. (Yonhap)