Korea, Japan business groups to unveil bilateral partnership fund details

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right center, meets with chiefs of six major Korean business associations, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who chairs the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, sixth from left, in Seoul on May 8. [Photo provided by Federation of Korean Industries]

Business lobby groups in South Korea and Japan are set to announce details on the operation of a future partnership fund they will each create to support various cooperation projects as part of efforts to bolster bilateral relations, which have been fraught over the past three years due to Japan’s wartime forced labor compensation issues.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a major business lobbying group in Korea, said on Monday that its acting Chairman Kim Byong-joon and Masakazu Tokura, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, will hold a joint press conference on Wednesday to announce details on the fund, including the formation of a steering committee and fundraising progress.

As controversy has been raised over the Korean government’s third-party reimbursement plan to pay the victims through funds donated to a Seoul-based foundation, attention is likely to be focused on whether Japanese companies accused of wartime forced labor will participate in the fund.

Earlier in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with chiefs of major Korean business associations, a session that took place on the last day of his two-day visit to Seoul for a summit with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

During the meeting, Kishida asked the Korean business leaders to take the initiative in bolstering bilateral cooperation between the two neighbors. The meeting was attended by FKI’s Kim, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who chairs the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, among others.

Referring to the economic security talks between the two countries’ National Security Councils agreed upon at his summit with Yoon, Kishida expressed hope that “businesses will contribute to establishing a strong supply chain” between the two countries.

In particular, he expressed his expectations for the 55th Korea-Japan Business Conference to be held in Seoul on May 16-17 hosted by the Korea-Japan Economic Association for the first time in four years, and asked for business communities to lead in the efforts to boost cooperation and exchanges between the two neighbors.

“I was invited to President Yoon’s official residence last night and had a meaningful conversation in terms of deepening our mutual trust, including personal ones,” said Kishida before returning to Japan on Monday. He expressed eagerness to build greater trust with Yoon to “open a new era” in bilateral relations.