Japan’s Kishida to meet with Korean business lobby group heads next week

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on March 16. [Photo by Yonhap]

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet with the heads of South Korea’s six major business lobby groups when he arrives in Seoul on Sunday for a summit with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

According to sources from the business circle on Wednesday, Kishida will meet with the leaders of Korea’s six business groups on Monday. The meeting is a follow-up of a Korea-Japan business roundtable that was initiated by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) during President Yoon’s visit to Japan in March.

The gathering next week will be hosted in a smaller form by the Japanese Embassy in Korea.

The event will be attended by the leaders of the business groups, including Chey Tae-won, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Enterprises Federation, Kim Byong-joon, acting chairman of the FKI, Koo Ja-yeol, chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, Kim Ki-moon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, and Choi Jin-shik, chairman of the Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea.

It is unclear whether the chiefs of Korea’s major conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics Co. Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, will attend the event as it is not an official roundtable hosted by the FKI.

Samsung Electronics’ Lee is currently on a business trip to the U.S. and his attendance is up in the air as his flight returning to Korea has not been confirmed yet.

Euisun Chung, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, and Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of LG Group, did not receive an official invitation from the Japanese Embassy, according to sources. Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is highly likely to attend the event given his close relationship with Prime Minister Kishida.

The meeting will be held in private. It will raise issues related to promoting economic exchanges between the two countries and bilateral cooperation in strategic industries such as semiconductors and batteries that have previously been discussed during President Yoon’s visit to Japan.

“Prime Minister Kishida pushed for the event hosted by the Japanese Embassy to have a candid discussion on mid to long-term cooperation with the Korean business leaders and businesses,” said an unnamed official from the business circle.

The meeting will take place ahead of the 55th Korea-Japan Business Conference being held in Seoul on May 16-17. The conference is being organized by the Korea-Japan Economic Association for the first time in four years.