Tokyo, Sept. 9 (Jiji Press)--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.

Meanwhile, a senior official at the Japanese Foreign Minister said that it remains to be seen if South Korea, which has already showed its interest in the TPP talks, will eventually decide to join the negotiations.

A different source in the Japanese government said that it would not be easy for Seoul to make a decision in favor of its participation in the TPP talks given domestic circumstances in the country.

Source: Jiji Press

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