Reversed Asymmetry in Japan's and Korea's FTAs: TPP and Beyond

Abstract

This paper examines recent reversals and divergences in Japan's and Korea's free‐trade agreement (FTA) patterns and strategies through the cases of the Trans‐Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, the Japan–Australia FTA, and the Korea–China FTA. Throughout the 2000s, South Korea was much more proactive in pursuing FTAs with major trade partners and agricultural exporters compared to Japan. Departing from its past FTA practices, however, Japan recently concluded the Japan–Australia FTA and the TPP negotiations, which include substantial liberalization of Japan's politically sensitive and heavily protected agricultural sector. In contrast, Korea has increasingly been taking a more protective stance in its recent FTAs and has been hesitant to join the TPP negotiations. This paper argues that changes in Japan's and Korea's domestic trade governance – in other words the institutions of trade policy‐making that encompass the authority structure, decision‐making processes, and coordinating mechanisms among various societal and political actors – explain Japan's and Korea's shifting FTA patterns and strategies.