Yoon aims to restore economic ties during Japan trip

Diplomacy

Published: 15 Mar. 2023, 19:01

Yoon aims to restore economic ties during Japan trip

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center right, speaks at a luncheon meeting with doyens in Korea-Japan relations, including former Prime Minister Lee Hong-koo and former ambassadors to Japan, at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul Wednesday, ahead of his visit to Tokyo. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol will work to swiftly normalize economic cooperation between Korea and Japan during his two-day visit to Tokyo starting Thursday, according to the presidential office.

"The government will swiftly restore the ministerial-level economic cooperation channels between the two countries that have been suspended, such as in finance, trade and science and technology," said Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, in a press briefing Wednesday.

He stressed that "improving Korea-Japan relations in the economic field is not an option, but a necessity."

Yoon will hold a bilateral summit talk with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his visit.

He will also meet with Japanese political figures, lawmakers, businesspeople, university students and Korean compatriots living in Tokyo.

The two countries are working to revive diplomatic relations that have deteriorated in recent years over historical disputes related to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea, namely the compensation of Japan's wartime forced labor victims, as well as over a trade spat ongoing since 2019.

Choi noted that Japan is an "important country as a global supply chain partner, and a key country in the new economic security community being formed among value-sharing countries," and that there will be "a huge loss" if Seoul and Tokyo fail to cooperate.

He added that Japan as a trading partner is also expected to "contribute to our exports in a much more reciprocal relationship than in the past," noting that strategic partnerships in new industries such as electric vehicles will also be strengthened.

Choi noted that the two countries are "undergoing consultations" on Japan's lifting of export restrictions on Korea, in place since the summer of 2019.

Japan implemented restrictions on exports to Korea of key materials for chip and display production in July 2019, following Korea's Supreme Court rulings on forced laborers the previous year. It also removed Korea from a "whitelist" of favored trade partners the following month.

"The international trade environment is very different now from the time that export restrictions were implemented" Choi said, noting that the "supply chain is much more fragmented."

Yoon will be the first Korean president to visit Tokyo in 12 years for a bilateral summit, seen as a step to resuming shuttle diplomacy between the two countries' leaders that have been suspended since 2011.

Yoon and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are also expected to hold a joint press briefing following their summit, a presidential official said.

Major Korean leaders are expected to discuss economic cooperation with their Japanese counterparts at a Korea-Japan business roundtable on Friday.

The event will be organized by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo will be among the 12 Korean businesspeople in attendance, according to the FKI.

Acting FKI chief Kim Byong-joon and FKI vice chairs Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, Samyang Holdings Chairman Kim Yoon and Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon will also take part in the roundtable.

Eleven Japanese businesspeople will take part, including Keidanren Chairman Masakazu Tokura.

The FKI said in a statement the meeting will aim to "bolster economic cooperation, mutual investment and people-to-people exchanges" between the two countries.

The trip comes after the Korean government announced a plan last week to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor through a public foundation funded by Korean companies, without set contributions from Japanese companies found liable in Korea's Supreme Court rulings in 2018.

Some victims, civic groups and the liberal Democratic Party have strongly protested the plan because it doesn't include an apology from the liable Japanese companies, nor direct compensation.

During their bilateral summit, Japan may also lay out corresponding measures to Korea's diplomatic overtures.

In an interview with a Japanese newspaper Wednesday, President Yoon stressed that the normalization of relations between Korea and Japan will not only be beneficial to the two countries but also be a "positive signal" to the international community.

Yoon told the Yomiuri Shimbun that his two-day visit to Tokyo in itself represents "major progress in light of past bilateral relations."

Regarding the forced labor compensation issue, Yoon told the Yomiuri that he'd been considering a third-party compensation method even before running for president.

Yoon told the newspaper that stronger ties between the two countries would help global supply chains and build more "stable" economic relations with China.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]