Seoul mulls joining TPP in 2nd phase

The South Korean government will make a decision on joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership after U.S.-led multilateral negotiations for the trade deal are completed.

“The (Korean) government plans to make a final decision on whether to join the TPP after the trade deal officially concludes and its terms and conditions are unveiled,” the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement Thursday.

The ministry’s statement follows claims Wednesday in the Washington Post, which reported that Korea made a formal request to join the 12-nation TPP trade deal and was rejected by the U.S. during a high-level meeting between key trade officials from the two countries.

Korea’s Trade Ministry has effectively ruled out the possibility of becoming a founding member of the TPP, experts said.

“The Korean government seems to have made such a decision given that it lacks strong incentives to hurry its entry into the TPP, having already established bilateral trade deals with most of the countries currently partaking in the TPP,” said Ahn Duk-geun, a professor of international trade law and policy at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of International Studies.

“Essentially, the Korean government is not in a rush to join the TPP, given that it has already struck FTAs with 10 of the 12 participating countries, including the United States, the key player in the trade deal,” Ahn said.

“Moreover, Korea is cautious about hastily entering the TPP when it currently lacks information on the key details of the pact, (as the deal is still under negotiations). Such considerations likely influenced the government’s decision to delay its entry into the trade deal as well.”

The Washington Post also reported that Korea’s request to join the TPP was “greeted with an ‘unwelcoming atmosphere’,” given that the “Obama administration is loath to slow the momentum (on the TPP negotiations) by allowing another country to join the talks.”

“There are 12 countries currently trying to seal a large-scale, multilateral trade deal. If a country with an economy and trade volume as large as Korea suddenly stepped in, the TPP would have to undoubtedly undergo more complex negotiations and amendments, which would become a large burden for the U.S.,” Ahn said.

The U.S.-led TPP negotiations are expected to make significant progress over the next few months. U.S. Congress on Thursday reached a landmark agreement to produce a compromised trade bill that would grant President Barack Obama special powers, so-called “trade promotion authority,” to expedite the decision-making process on the TPP.

Once signed, the trade deal is expected to establish one of the largest free trade zones in the world. It will link Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam. The deal would oversee a region home to 40 percent of the world’s population and nearly 60 percent of global GDP, according to a U.S. Congressional report.

“Korea will likely join the TPP as soon as it reaches a conclusion. Though it is unlikely that the country will see immediate benefits from the trade deal, in the long term, the TPP will become an important foothold for Korean companies to invest in overseas markets and partake in the global commerce chain,” SNU’s Ahn said.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)