SK Chair Chey Tae-won calls for abolition of Korea-Japan tariffs

Chey Tae-won, chairman of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and SK Group, urged Korea and Japan to abolish tariffs to stimulate economic growth and cooperation.

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Chey Tae-won speaks at the 56th Korea-Japan Business Leaders' Meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Chey Tae-won, chairman of both Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and SK Group, suggested abolishing tariffs between Korea and Japan to boost the duo's economic cooperation and seek ways to stir up sluggish economic growth.

“Korea and Japan face similar crises such as slow [economic] growth, aging society and labor shortage, and it's desperately urgent for both to find new vigor for our economic survival,” Chairman Chey said during his keynote at the 56th Korea-Japan Business Conference held in Tokyo on Tuesday.

“If Korea and Japan remove tariffs and seek free trade, it will help raise the two's gross domestic products [GDPs] and consumer benefits,” Chey added.

The meeting, first held in 1969, is an annual event organized by enterprises from both countries. Around 300 people participated at this year's gathering including Chey, Korea-Japan Economic Association Chair Kim Yoon and Korea-Japan Economic Association President Miki Sasaki.

Chey began his speech with a question to the audience: “Is the Korea-Japan relationship O.K. as is?”

“If you think it's not O.K., I want to emphasize, we should try something that we haven't done before,” Chey said. “Korea and Japan are important economic partners to each other, but trades were running on the spot for over a decade.”

Chey emphasized that the complete abolition of tariffs between the two countries would increase production as well as GDP, citing a recent six-month study conducted by both countries' chambers of commerce which examined tariff abolition scenarios in 12 key industries.

“We confirmed the result that the abolition is beneficial to both countries, breaking the concerns that it would harm various industries.”

Chey also suggested creating a platform that the two countries could use to collaborate on research endeavors.

“For instance, startups of both countries can gather together to share ideas to launch joint projects,” Chey said. “Joint purchases of energy products like hydrogen LNG or the joint introduction of tourism packages can be another example.”

“We are now at an important milestone to open a new prospect for Seoul-Tokyo relations ahead of their 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties next year,” Chey added. “Enterprisers must show more support for the two countries' cooperation and engage in deeper participation.”

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]