South Korea joins China, Taiwan in bid for CPTPP entry, but concerns remain over Japan’s stance

Seoul’s bid to seek membership of the mega trade alliance comes as it cites ‘fast changes to the economic order in the Asia-Pacific region’

Its move raises questions about whether Japan, a heavyweight in the bloc with whom South Korea has tense ties, may impose ‘tough preconditions’ for entry

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in. File photo: Yonhap via AP

Published: 5:24pm, 13 Dec 2021

South Korea is seeking to join the 11-member CPTPP trade pact citing “fast changes to the economic order in the Asia-Pacific region”, raising questions about whether its tense relations with Japan, the largest economic power in the bloc, will get in the way.

“South Korea will initiate the relevant procedures based on discussions with various interested parties to push the membership of the CPTPP,” Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said on Monday at a policy meeting in Seoul.

Originally meant to be for Asia-Pacific nations, the CPTPP has been gaining significance as a global agreement, recently attracting interest from Britain as well as mainland China and Taiwan. The pact links Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Singapore.

China and Taiwan’s applications to join the trade bloc came after the US, Australia and Britain struck a security alliance which includes an agreement to help Canberra secure a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

In 2019, the 11 economies imported a combined US$126 billion of South Korean goods, which corresponded to 23.2 per cent of the country’s total exports that year. They also sold US$124.9 billion of goods and services to South Korea, accounting for 24.8 per cent of its imports in 2019.