South Korea is kicking off four days of bilateral talks with five countries Tuesday on the opening of its rice market.

Talks with India and Egypt -the first such talks- are scheduled for Tuesday. They will be followed by a meeting with Pakistan on Wednesday and with Canada and Argentina on Thursday.

Seoul already held similar talks with four other countries - China, the U.S., Australia and Thailand - earlier this month.

The major focus of the negotiations is expected to be on the possible extension of a grace period for Seoul on full-fledged rice market opening.

At the 1994 Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks, South Korea was granted a ten-year grace period during which it was allowed to keep rice imports under four percent of domestic consumption.

According to agreements struck at those negotiations, South Korea must conclude talks on the possible opening of its rice market by the end of this year.