South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed that a bilateral free trade pact would bring economic benefits to both sides.

The Foreign Ministry said this and other progress was made during the latest round of FTA joint research meetings held in Jakarta on Friday and Saturday.

South Korea and ASEAN plan to submit the results of a joint FTA study at next month's ASEAN economic ministers' conference and subsequently submit the report at the South Korea-ASEAN summit talks scheduled for November.

Last week, the two sides agreed to remove tariffs and to push forward with investment and service freedom in order to achieve economic liberalization.