DHAKA: South Korea and Australia will sign a free trade deal this week, South Korean president Park Geun Hye said on Monday, after four years of negotiations on the pact.

‘Tomorrow, we will sign a free trade agreement with Australia,’ Park said at a meeting of her top aides, according to a media pool report.

The deal will take South Korea’s total number of free trade agreements to ten, involving a total of 47 countries, she said, with others including the United States, the European Union, Asean and India.

Trade minister Yoon Sang Jick and his Australian counterpart Andrew Robb are expected to sign the agreement when Park meets with Australian prime minister Tony Abbott in Seoul on Tuesday as part of his East Asian tour, reports The Straits Time.

BDST: 1240 HRS, APR 07, 2014