A South Korean research institute's concern over the possible impact a trade deal between Taiwan and China will have on Korean exporters is further proof that the pact will boost Taiwan's competitiveness, President Ma Ying-jeou's spokesman said Friday. It also shows that the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is doing nothing but 'twisting the facts and smearing the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) ' for political purposes, spokesman Lo Chih-chiang charged. The DPP has described the Ma government's signing of the ECFA with China as a move to sell out Taiwan's sovereignty, but Lo disagreed while commenting on a report by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP). In its report, the KIEP predicted the ECFA will hurt exports of South Korean petrochemical products to China. Lo said the report reflects the 'optimism' of foreign countries in talking about the boost the agreement will provide to Taiwan's economic development. Citing a report of South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, the Central News Agency reported from Seoul on Thursday that in the KIEP's study on the ECFA, released that day, the research institute anticipated the South Korean petrochemical sector will be the most affected Korean sector. The KIEP said 494 of Taiwan's 539 products on the ECFA's early harvest list are also exported to China by South Korea, and they account for 17.9 percent of South Korea's total exports to the mainland market, the report said. Aside from petrochemical products, South Korean steel and transport equipment could also be affected by the ECFA, the report added, and it urged Seoul to actively study how to forge a free trade agreement with China. The early harvest list covers products entitled to tariff reductions or exemptions under the cross-Taiwan Strait agreement. 