A free trade agreement between South Korea and China will come into force on Dec. 20, officials said Wednesday, about six months after the two nations formally signed the deal aimed at slashing tariffs and other trade barriers.
  

The South Korean Ambassador to China, Kim Jang-soo, and Chinese assistant commerce minister, Wang Shouwen, exchanged a diplomatic document that set the date for inaugurating the accord earlier in the day.
  

After about three years of negotiations, South Korea and China announced the "substantial conclusion" of the talks in November last year.
  

The deal will eventually remove tariffs on about 90 percent of goods between the two nations over the next two decades.
  

China is South Korea's largest trading partner, as two-way trade stood at about $290 billion last year. (Yonhap)