Seoul ready to meet standards to join CPTPP trade deal

Seoul

SOUTH Korea is ready to meet the standards required to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) free trade deal, which would benefit both South Korea and Japan, the country's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said in an interview with Nikkei.

Seoul plans to submit its application to join the 11-member pact by the middle of April 2022.

Japan's top government official has said it is too early to say whether South Korea can fully meet the high standards of pact, according to Kyodo news agency.

The South Korean minister's comments coincide with requests from both China and Taiwan to join the CPTPP.

The 11 Pacific Rim countries currently involved in the deal are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

South Korea is "ready to meet the high standards" and has prepared for the pact for 8 years, Yeo said, according to the report.

If South Korea joins the CPTPP, it would "vitalise the Korea-Japan economic cooperation and offer benefits for both", he said.

Businesses and markets "have recognised the importance of economic and supply-chain cooperation between South Korea and Japan," the Nikkei cited him as saying.

Japanese companies' investments in South Korea have increased, "except for 2020, which was hit due to the coronavirus", even with strained relations between the two countries over the past few years, he said. BLOOMBERG