South Korean President Lee Myung-bakand Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on Monday declared that they have reached a final agreement on the bilateral free trade talks, Seoul's presidential office said.
"The two leaders welcomed the final negotiation agreement on the South Korea-EU FTA (free trade agreement) and expressed hope it will quickly be initialed," the presidential office said in a press release.
However, the two leaders did not explicitly say they have "struck" an agreement as there still remain technical issues, such as an announcement for the EU side, which needs to be made by the European Commission, a South Korean official was quoted as saying.
Earlier in the day, the South Korean official said that South Korea and the executive body of the EU had reached agreement on the final draft of the proposed FTA.
The agreement came amid a summit between the two leaders in Stockholm, the Swedish capital.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt currently chairs the EU as the presidency of the union is rotating by six months.