President Lee Jae-myung met with the chairman of the Japan Business Federation and stressed the need for cooperation between South Korea and Japan in advanced industry supply chains, calling for expanded exchanges at both the business and private levels.
Lee received Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of Keidanren, at the Blue House on the afternoon of Oct. 23, Presidential Office spokesperson Kim Sung-wan said in a written briefing. Tsutsui was visiting Seoul to attend the 33rd Korea-Japan Business Conference. Also present were Keiichi Iwata, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical, Toshiaki Higashihara, chairman of Hitachi, and Ryu Jin, chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries and head of the Korean delegation to the conference.
Lee praised the business communities of both countries for contributing to economic growth through close ties and cooperation, and thanked the executives for their efforts.
"Korea and Japan are important countries where cooperation is essential in terms of advanced industry supply chains," Lee said. "Just as the two countries are actively continuing shuttle diplomacy between their leaders to develop a mutually beneficial relationship, I hope that private-sector exchanges, not just those between the business communities, will continue to expand." He added that favorable views of each other among the two countries' citizens have risen considerably, and proposed that the governments and business communities of Korea and Japan, as neighboring countries, work together to expand forward-looking economic cooperation.
Tsutsui said relations between the two countries are growing closer, noting that people-to-people exchanges between Korea and Japan surpassed 13 million last year, a record high. "At a time when the international economic order is in disarray, cooperation among countries with similar positions is becoming increasingly important," he said. "There have been difficult periods in Korea-Japan relations, but through the Korea-Japan Business Conference, which marks its 33rd year this year, the business communities of both countries will continue to cooperate going forward."
Launched in 1983, the Korea-Japan Business Conference is the highest-level economic cooperation forum hosted by the private business sectors of the two countries. Tsutsui traveled to Korea to attend the 33rd conference, held in Seoul on the same day.