S. Korea to Hold Talks with Japan on Joining CPTPP

Newsfrom Japan

Economy

Sep 20, 2025 19:02 (JST)

Seoul, Sept. 20 (Jiji Press)–South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has said that his country plans to engage in talks with Japan on possibly joining the Tokyo-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

At a press conference with foreign media in Seoul on Friday, Cho said that South Korea does not consider the scrapping of its import ban on fishery goods from eight Japanese prefectures to be a precondition for joining the multilateral free trade pact.

The import restrictions will not be lifted until the concerns of the South Korean people are wiped out, he said.

Seoul barred fishery imports from Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in northeastern Japan, and Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures in eastern Japan, following the March 2011 severe accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The Japanese government has said the fishery products are safe, calling on South Korea to remove the restrictions swiftly. The import ban could become a key issue in negotiations on South Korea’s possible participation in the CPTPP.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Jiji Press