“Washington is Negative about Korea’s Accession to TPP as of Now”

The Washington Post (WP) reported on April 15 (local time) that the U.S. government is negative, at least at this point in time, about South Korea’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

According to the report, Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Jae-do and his colleagues met with Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler and Caroline Atkinson, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, in Washington D.C. this month to discuss the issue. The WP quoted an anonymous Korean source as saying, “The U.S. is taking Korea’s participation in the TPP for granted in principle, but it seems that now is not the time, because the acceptance of a new member could delay the ongoing negotiations with the current members-to-be.”

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy denied the report though. “The deputy minister visited Washington D.C. mainly to discuss mutual cooperation in the field of commerce, and he just shared relevant information when it comes to the TPP,” it explained, adding, “The Korean government will make its decision on the issue in compliance with the Trade Procedure Act, and based on a thorough analysis of the TPP’s impact on the national economy after the written agreement is made public.”