Japan announced on September 1, 2026, that it will offer to house the proposed permanent secretariat for the CPTPP. ^[1] Members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership agreed in November to create a permanent administrative support unit. ^[2] In 2025, South Korea's goods trade with the CPTPP member states totaled about US$341 billion, representing roughly 25% of the country's total trade, which exceeded trade with China (20%) and the United States (15%). ^[3] The South Korean government announced that it will begin formal social discussions and public opinion gathering on the Republic of Korea's possible accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade pact launched in 2018. ^[4] The Japanese proposal seeks to take the initiative in expanding the Asia-Pacific trade bloc by offering streamlined reviews of membership applications. ^[5] President Donald Trump announced steep and sweeping global tariffs on April 2, 2025, which he called his 'Liberation Day' tariffs. ^[6] The article states that these tariffs were announced in violation of international trade law and US treaty commitments as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). ^[7] The author argues that the US tariffs have inspired trading partners to proclaim their own 'Liberation Day' from the US market. ^[8] South Korea's 2021 bid to join the CPTPP, formalized in December 2021, came after the government had previously decided to push ahead, but it stalled because of opposition to the tariff-free treatment of more than 96% of agricultural products and complications involving imports of Japanese produce, including items from the Fukushima fishing industry, halting domestic parliamentary procedures. ^[9] The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) forecasts that South Korea's real gross domestic product could grow by as much as 0.35 percent if the country joins the CPTPP. ^[10] The number of membership applications for the CPTPP is described as growing. ^[11] The article cites the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) as evidence of the trend. ^[12]