(Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) FTA South Korea-Australia FTA South Korea-Canada CKFTA FTA South Korea Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama) FTA South Korea-Chile FTA South Korea-China FTA South Korea-Colombia FTA South Korea-EFTA (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) FTA South Korea-EU (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK) FTA South Korea-India CEPA FTA South Korea-New Zealand FTA South Korea-Peru FTA South Korea-Singapore FTA South Korea-Turkey FTA South Korea-United Kingdom FTA South Korea-United States of America (KORUS FTA) South Korea-Vietnam FTA As of late 2021 states of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates), Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market—Mercado comun del sur), Mexico, Mongolia, RCEP (Asian 10 Countries, Korea, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India), Russia (BEPA), SACU (South Asia Cooperation Union) and Korea-China-Japan are in negotiations about the FTA with South Korea. China (PRC) Active South Korean-Chinese people-to-people contacts have been encouraged. Academics, journalists and particularly families divided between South Korea and the People's Republic of China (PRC) were able to exchange visits freely in the late 1980s. Nearly 2 million ethnic Koreans especially in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province of Northeast China have interacted with South Koreans. Trade between the two countries continued to increase nonetheless, Furthermore, China has attempted to mediate between North Korea and the United States, and between North Korea and Japan. China also initiated and promoted tripartite talks between North Korea, South Korea and the U.S. South Korea had long been an ally of Taiwan. Diplomatic ties between Seoul and Taipei were nevertheless severed in 1992. Formal diplomatic relations were established between Seoul and Beijing on August 24, 1992. In 2004 the PRC government began the Northeast Project, sparking a massive uproar in South Korea when the project was widely publicized. After the KORUS FTA (United States-South Korea Free Trade Agreement) was finalized on June 30, 2007 the Chinese government has immediately begun seeking an FTA agreement with South Korea. The FTA between South Korea and China are under discussion South Korea has been running a trade surplus with China which hit a record US$32.5 billion in 2009. Taiwan (ROC) On 23 August 1992, the government of the Republic of China (by then only in