KCCI and SK chief meets business leaders in Japan on signs of thawing in bilateral relations

[Source: Yonhap]

Chey Tae-won, chairman of South Korea’s conglomerate SK Group and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), visited Japan for the first time in two years to meet with business leaders and enhance supply chain cooperation amid signs of thawing in relationship between the two countries.

According to the business cycle on Wednesday, he met with major business leaders in Japan including CEO Kenichiro Yoshida of Sonny, CEO Akira Shimada of NTT, and Yasuhiro Sato, ex-chairman of Mizuho Financial Group, to discuss ways to cooperate in business areas, including semiconductors, EV batteries, and artificial intelligence.

He proposed holding Korea-Japan Business Council in Busan in November, after two years of hiatus due to the pandemic in a meeting with his Japanese trade group counterpart Akio Mimura and sought support for Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030.

The business community has been raising hopes for improvement in bilateral ties that had been at a standstill throughout last five years under the liberal government due to conflict over past issues.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida briefly talked during a gala dinner for NATO summit in Madrid. Yoon is scheduled to hold the first trilateral summit with U.S. and Japanese summits Wednesday since December 2017.

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