South Korea’s trade volume has more than doubled in the 10 years since the country implemented its first-ever free trade agreement with Chile, a local trade organization said Thursday.

The country enacted its FTA with Chile 10 years ago on April 1. The deal had prompted a wide range of concerns at the time over the possible fallout for the country’s farmers and agricultural market, along with doubts about its much-advertised benefits.

Such concerns and questions have yet to disappear completely even though the country has since signed and implemented eight other bilateral and multilateral FTAs that involve 45 other countries.

Officials from the Korea International Trade Association claim the growth of the country’s overall trade volume over the past 10 years can at least confirm the positive impact of FTAs on trade. (Yonhap)