President Lee Jae-myung on the 6th instructed officials to "start the conversation again from the beginning, without rushing toward a preset conclusion," on whether South Korea should join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The directive is read as signaling that the government will begin with consultations with stakeholders, rather than treating membership as settled and then drawing up measures to offset the fallout, at a time when the strategic case for joining is running up against concerns about damage to the farming and fisheries industries.
Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, said at a closed-door briefing on the 43rd Cabinet meeting on the 6th that Lee noted that two views are being raised at the same time — that the CPTPP carries significant strategic value during a period of upheaval in the international trade order, and that concerns within the farming and fisheries industries are very deep.
At the meeting, Lee stressed that "policy must be pursued by weighing the national interest on a foundation of trust and shared understanding among farmers and fishers," and then called for officials to "start the conversation again from the beginning, without rushing toward a preset conclusion."
The presidential office later clarified what "from the beginning" meant. Asked whether it meant reviewing membership itself anew, or gathering further grievances from farmers and fishers on the premise that Korea would join, Kang said the government "plans to set no conclusion at all and to first hold talks again with stakeholders from the beginning."
According to an economic impact analysis of CPTPP membership released earlier by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and other relevant ministries, joining the pact would lift real gross domestic product by 0.38 percentage points after 10 years and increase manufacturing output by up to 6.7 trillion won ($4.7 billion) a year on average over 15 years. In farming, forestry and fisheries, however, market opening is projected to bring an unavoidable decline in output of about 850 billion won ($597 million) a year on average, deepening concerns among people working in those sectors.
The CPTPP is a multilateral free trade agreement involving Asia-Pacific countries including Japan, Australia and Canada. Officials both inside and outside the government have steadily argued for membership as a way to adapt to supply chain realignment and diversify trade. Industry groups, by contrast, have continued to voice concerns about potential damage to domestic farming and fisheries from wider market opening for agricultural, livestock and seafood products.
