We start with the big economic news of the day...<br />South Korea is giving up its status as a developing country at the Word Trade Organization.<br />This morning's announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump put pressure on the WTO in July to change how it designates developing countries.<br />Kim Hyesung reports.<br />South Korea will no longer seek special treatment reserved for developing countries at the WTO in future trade negotiations.<br />Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that South Korea has decided to abandon its developing country status given its global economic status with a per capita national income of over 30-thousand U.S. dollars and the external environment with countries like Singapore also giving up their developing country status.<br />Countries with WTO developing nation status are given special treatment such as longer transition periods for implementing trade agreements and technical assistance.<br />South Korea has maintained its developing country status since 1995 in the area of agriculture following the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, with higher tariffs on goods like rice.<br />The minister said South Korea won't be given special treatment as a WTO developing nation in future trade agreements but there won't be any changes to previously signed trade deals.<br />He added the South Korean government will do everything it can to protect sensitive agricultural areas in future WTO negotiations and provide financial support for farmers.<br />The decision comes after President Trump in July accused some countries including South Korea, that are among the world’s richest economies, of abusing the developing nation status.<br />He said the U.S. will stop treating such countries as developing nations should the WTO fail to make substantial progress after 90 days, which was October 23rd.<br />Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.<br />
