Japan would basically welcome South Korea if it decides to participate in Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations, Yasutoshi Nishimura, senior vice minister at the Cabinet Office, said Monday.
The remark came after a South Korean newspaper reported the same day that the South Korean government is considering announcing its bid later this month to join the TPP talks."The TPP is not a closed framework," Nishimura, who is in charge of TPP issues, told reporters. Japan made its debut in the U.S.-led free trade negotiations in July.
