South Korea Aims to Join Ranks of TPP Members

Seoul’s interest indicates that the Asian-Pacific trade bloc has the potential to grow beyond its initial 12 members.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — South Korean authorities on Monday welcomed the agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and said the country would strive to join the trade bloc as soon as it can, a South Korean official said.

Seoul will “actively consider joining the TPP,” Yeo Han-Koo, Deputy Chief of Office of Trans-Pacific Partnership under the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Energy said, as cited by The Wall Street Journal.

“We welcome the agreement. It is important for the TPP to develop into an open, transparent and inclusive platform,” he said, cited by the media.

South Korea’s economy depends on trade. Seoul currently has free trade agreements with 10 of the 12 TPP founding members.

The TPP deal includes the United States and Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Mexico, Taiwan, Peru, Brunei, Chile, Singapore and Malaysia and covers about 40 percent of the global economy.

Uncertain implications for workers’ rights, employment, copyrights, sovereignty and the environment have drawn heavy criticism to the TPP from many members of government, as well as labor unions and watchdogs.