Meeting between Fumio and Korean business people to be held

It was reported that a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and five major business groups and the leaders of six economic organizations in South Korea is being planned for the prime minister’s visit to South Korea next week.

According to the business circles on Wednesday, a meeting between Prime Minister Kishida and South Korean business people is being considered to be held by the Embassy of Japan in South Korea at a hotel in Seoul on Monday morning. The two countries are discussing the final list of attendants and detailed agenda.

This will be the only schedule with South Korean business people during the prime minister’s visit to South Korea on Sunday through Monday. Unlike South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visits to the U.S. last week and Japan in March, a business round table with Japanese business people is yet to be scheduled.

On Wednesday, the Embassy of Japan in South Korea requested the members of five major South Korean business groups to attend the event. The leaders of six economic organizations initially planned to attend the meeting, but the Japanese side wanted major groups to participate. The final list of attendants and whether the heads of the business groups will attend the event are yet to be confirmed. Executive Chairman of Samsung Electronics Lee Jae-yong is currently on a business trip to North America, including the West Coast of the U.S., until next week while the heads of the other business groups are currently in South Korea.

Even confirmed, the meeting with business leaders will be held in private. Measures to promote exchanges between the two countries’ economic circles, which were discussed during President Yoon’s visit to Japan in March, and bilateral cooperation in strategic industries, including semiconductors and batteries, are likely to be discussed.

Some members of the business circle are focusing on the fact that the event is hosted by the Japanese Embassy, rather than the Federation of Korean Industries. The federation hosted a South Korea-Japan business round table during the South Korean president’s visit to Japan in March. The federation, along with Japan Business Federation, announced at the time to raise future partnership funds to resolve the compensation issue for forced labor victims and recover future-oriented cooperative relationships. “The economic meeting with Prime Minister Kishida is meaningful in itself as a gathering between the Japanese prime minister and South Korean businesspeople, rather than discussing specific agenda,” said a business source. "It will offer an opportunity to discuss mid- to long-term directions for economic cooperation between the two countries."


Do-Young Kwak now@donga.com