South Korea and Malaysia on Monday concluded negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) covering goods, services, investment and digital trade during ROK President Lee Jae-myung’s visit to Kuala Lumpur for the ROK-ASEAN Summit. Both governments said the deal will expand trade and cooperation in strategic industries such as artificial intelligence, green technology and smart infrastructure. Malaysia liberalized 92.7% of its tariff lines while Korea liberalized 94.8%, and the agreement includes chapters on the green economy, digital trade and halal-industry collaboration — Malaysia’s first such provision with a non-Muslim country.

Lee and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also oversaw