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| Jeong Dae-jin, deputy trade minister, speaks during a meeting on trade and new industry cooperation between Korea and Japan at the COEX convention center in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Korea and Japan have agreed to hold a series of meetings this year to find ways to boost economic cooperation between the two nations, according to the trade ministry and business lobby groups, Thursday.
The move came as a follow-up measure to President Yoon Suk Yeol's March 16 to 17 visit to Japan where he agreed to normalize bilateral relations during a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
As part of the measures, the trade ministry said a meeting on trade and new industry cooperation was held at the COEX convention center in southern Seoul, co-hosted by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and the Korea-Japan Economic Association.
The meeting featured over 100 officials from the governments, corporations, academic communities and economic organizations of the two countries to discuss ways to expand economic cooperation and mutual exchanges.
"Since January, 570,000 Koreans have visited Japan and 70,000 Japanese have visited Korea. We hope that constructive discussions on economic, talented professionals and cultural exchanges will take place at a time when the momentum of normalizing Korea-Japan relations is strengthening," Yutaka Aso, vice chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Association, said.
Kim Yoon, chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Association, said, "Although it has not been easy to promote large-scale projects between companies, this summit has created conditions for business cooperation between companies, such as investment cooperation and joint entry into third countries."
"Jeong Dae-jin, deputy trade minister, also attended the meeting to deliver a congratulatory speech to thank the businessmen for their hard work contributing to the economic growth and development of the two nations," the trade ministry said. "Jeong also stressed the need for cooperation between Korea and Japan, including joint responses to resource nationalism, cooperation in carbon neutralization and joint entry into third countries."
Jeong Marn-ki, executive vice chairman of KITA, also said "the lifting of Japan's export regulations will boost trade in content and consumer goods as well as semiconductor materials and parts, and reduce trade transaction costs for companies of the two countries."
In addition to the meeting, Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang also met with leaders of nine Japanese companies in Seoul such as Toray Advanced Materials and Tokyo Electron to discuss about attracting investment to Korea.
"We look forward an active expansion of domestic investment by Japanese companies in the wake of the Korea-Japan summit," the minister said, asking them to increase investments in a semiconductor cluster, which will be created in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
Not only these meetings, but also a series of discussions between businessmen of the two nations will take place this year, the trade ministry added.
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