South Korea and the European Union added a protocol to their free trade agreement Tuesday to account for Croatia's recent accession to the political and economic union, the South Korean government said.

The revision of the South Korea-EU FTA, enacted in July 2011, was officially signed in Brussels, Belgium, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The same amendment was initialed in November 2011, about three months after Croatia's accession to the EU.

Under the change, South Korea will provide all benefits under the Korea-EU FTA to Croatia, while the new EU member will be allowed a few exceptions for its service market.

"There will be no changes to the level of our country's liberalization of its service market while the additional protocol provides a few exceptions for Croatia on the level of market liberalization under the existing FTA with the EU in the service sector," the ministry said in a press release.

The change requires approval by the respective legislatures of South Korea and the EU before it can be implemented. (Yonhap)