Flags of China and South Korea. [File Photo: sohu.com]

South Korea's parliament has ratified the much-anticipated Free Trade Agreement with China.

The agreement, signed in June this year, was passed by a majority of votes.

The ratification by South Korea means the FTA will begin to take effect after Chinese lawmakers give their stamp-of-approval to the new agreement at the annual political sessions in 2016.

Under the terms of the FTA, tariffs on over 90-percent of goods traded between the two countries are going to be eliminated over the next 20-years.

As part of the agreement, the South Korean government is to work positively to advertise the advantages of the free trade zone, a 12-trillion-U.S. dollar market.

The deal is the largest bilateral free trade deal that China is involved in, in terms of volume, which is approaching around 250-billion US dollars a year.

Analysts are suggesting the China-South Korea FTA could be the first step toward a trilateral free trade agreement among Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo.