Talks set between CETRA and Seoul

"South Korea doesn't want to irritate China because any accord with Taiwan that has an official nature could trigger a fierce response from China," said Lee Ming (李明), political analyst at National Chengchi University.

Seoul has refused to insert terms -- such as "territory" into a drafted aviation accord -- that could imply Taiwan is a sovereign state, and preferred using neutral terms such as "area" instead, Lee said.