The Effects of Korean Trade-Related Laws on East Asian Developing Countries: Focusing on Sustainable Development Issues during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is exploring the effects of Korean trade law on East Asian developing countries with respect to sustainable development in conjunction with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Design/Methodology/Approach - This paper reviews the notion of sustainable development in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Based on the understanding of sustainable development, this paper examines categories of Korean trade law related to sustainable development including domestic laws and international laws, such as Korea’s Free Trade Agreements with other countries. Then this paper draws effects of Korean trade law on developing countries in the region. To this end, this paper refers to previous literatures and existing FTAs. Findings - This paper draws some findings. The notion of sustainable development is reflected in Korean trade law. Particularly, Korea’s FTAs may take an important role in planning Korea’s sustainable development activities since FTAs set fields and contents of cooperation with respect to sustainable development. In addition, Korean laws need to be carefully refined with respect to the accountability of cooperation work. Research Implications - Based on the findings of the paper, this paper gives an implication that there are prominent areas of cooperation between Korea and developing countries of the region, such as technical assistance to renovation of legal systems or cooperation in health sector in the COVID-19 outbreak. This will help researchers find other areas in need of cooperation with developing countries in the region which tries to follow Korean model in terms of development.