South Korea’s finance minister said the country would begin an application to join a massive Asia-Pacific free trade deal before the end of President Moon Jae-in’s term in office. The trade deal could boost South Korea’s multilateral trade within the region and reduce its import reliance on China. The “Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement” (CPTPP) is the renegotiated version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the TPP in 2017. According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, Trump’s move was widely seen as a key counterweight to China’s growing economic influence. The new multilateral free trade deal was launched in 2018 by 11 member nations in the Asia-Pacific region. All members include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam. Currently, Japan is chairing the pact, with China and Taiwan having applied for membership in September this year. South …