Korea Trade Review (무역학회지)

Korea Trade Research Association (한국무역학회)
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Current Status and Issues in Digital Trade Agreements: Focusing on Cross-border Data Flows and Data Protection

디지털 통상의 국제규범화 현황과 쟁점: 국경 간 데이터 이동 및 데이터 보호를 중심으로

  • Joo Hyoung Lee (International Affairs Bureau, National Court Administration, Supreme Court) ;
  • Jeongmeen Suh (Soongsil University, Department of Global Commerce) ;
  • Jaeyoun Roh (Yeungnam Univeristy, School of International Economics & Business)
  • Received : 2021.04.10
  • Accepted : 2021.06.28
  • Published : 2021.06.30
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Abstract

Korea's FTA e-commerce regulations are evolving into a standardized norm. However, "location of computing facilities", which was not covered by Korea's existing FTA, was newly established in Korea's first Mega FTA, RCEP. China, a member of RCEP, restricts data movement and requires data localization through its Cybersecurity law. These facts have led to start this study with interest in data-related regulations. It examined country-specific and regulatory characteristics in the process of forming digital trade norms, using the TAPED established by Burri et al. (2020). It also analyzed the current status of introducing norms related to 'data flow', 'data localization' and 'data protection' of the EU, USA and China, which are leading the formation of e-commerce trade norms. Finally, the legal review was conducted to compare the exact meaning of the wording expressed in each agreement for the six recently enacted Mega FTAs and Digital Economic Agreements. These findings are meaningful in that they provided implications for the effectiveness of RCEP and the direction of negotiations on Korea's digital trade norms.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the 2021 Yeungnam University Research Grant.

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