A Study on the Korea-EU Digital Trade Environment

With the accelerating advent of digital economy worldwide, and the very unfortunate drift of the WTO, countries are seeking for establishing their own rule-based systems for digital trade. Korea is one of the most active parties in this area, having completed the negotiations of KSDPA and DEPA. Today, Korea is negotiating its third digital trade agreement with the EU and the European has publicized its proposal text. This paper analyzes the digital trade environment between Korea and the EU based upon the already-ratified Korea-EU FTA of 2011 and the aforementioned draft text, assuming no major modification is made until the completion of the ongoing negotiations. As a result, the newly negotiating Korea-EU DTA is likely to take a major role in expanding and managing the digital trade between the two parties than the FTA. The moratorium is doubly confirmed by the two agreements, but provision for fair treatment for foreign and domestic suppliers requires more attention. The DTA will then provide freer exchange of data, while ensuring more secure stages for personal data, consumer and source code protection. Korea is seemingly at the juncture of making another significant step forward by negotiating digital trade rules with the EU, where holds both the great economic power and digital presence.