SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK) trade minister Kim Jong-hoon on Monday made a public apology over translation errors found in the Korean text of a free trade agreement with the European Union (EU).

"The government and the trade ministry are well aware of the seriousness of the mistakes," Kim said in a press briefing, extending his apology for 207 translation errors and omissions found in the Korean text of the agreement.

The correction of the mistakes does not mean modification of the terms of the agreement, and the revised version will soon be submitted to parliament for approval, Kim added.

In response, Tomasz Kozlowski, head of the EU delegation in Seoul, said the EU has "accepted" the corrections proposed by the South Korean government. "I would like to reconfirm that the EU is ready to begin the implementation of the FTA on July 1, 2011, " he said in a statement.

Signed last year, the two-way trade pact between ROK and the EU still awaits legislative approval here, while the European Parliament in February endorsed what it said was "the most ambitious trade agreement the EU has ever negotiated."

The pact is expected to eliminate about 98 percent of import duties and other trade barriers in manufactured goods, agricultural products and services over the next five years.

ROK projects the bilateral pact will help its gross domestic product to grow 5.6 percent and create 250,000 new jobs, along with average annual trade surplus of $360 million over the next 15 years.