Yonhap | 10 Septembr 2025
PM says S. Korea positively considers joining trans-Pacific trade pact
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has said South Korea was positively considering joining a trans-Pacific trade pact, in a bid to bolster economic cooperation with Japan.
Kim made the remarks in an interview with Japan's Nikkei newspaper that South Korea was reviewing to join the 12-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), but the prime minister declined to say when Seoul would apply to join the pact.
The CPTPP is a major trans-Pacific trade agreement comprising 12 countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Vietnam.
In 2022, the South Korean government decided to push for the country's entry to the CPTPP, but Seoul failed to submit a formal application for membership due to opposition from the agriculture and fisheries sectors, and a strained relationship with Japan.
Observers say Tokyo could press Seoul to lift its import restrictions on seafood from Fukushima and nearby regions, which it has maintained since 2013 on concerns over radiation levels following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown, as part of the CPTPP accession process.
"We have been adhering to the standards and inspections set by the relevant Korean agencies," Kim said, in a remark the newspaper viewed as suggesting South Korea's intention to keep the restrictions in place for now.
Asked about the possibility of an inter-Korean summit, Kim said it would be "more realistic" to prioritize talks between the United States and North Korea, rather than pursuing dialogue between the two Koreas.
He also stressed that the transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul will be determined "based on mutual assessment between the two countries," saying South Korea should be prepared to proceed with the handover "at any time."
