Korean and Japanese Business Circles Meet Head-to-Head After 3 Years... "Unified Voice for Resuming Bilateral Exchanges"

Consensus Building on Export Regulation Abolition and Revival of Visa-Free Entry System

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The holding of the “Korea-Japan Business Council Meeting” between the two countries after three years was driven by a shared recognition that the deteriorated bilateral relations following the 2019 Supreme Court ruling on compensation for forced laborers during Japanese colonial rule urgently need to be improved, focusing on the business community. Various measures to revive the halted business cooperation between the two countries, such as lifting mutual export restrictions and reinstating the mutual visa-free entry system to expand human exchanges, were actively discussed.

On the 4th, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) held the Korea-Japan Business Council Meeting for the first time in three years. The FKI and Keidanren established the Korea-Japan Business Council in 1982 to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the economic sectors of the two countries, and have held regular meetings since 1983. However, relations between the two countries worsened after the 2019 Supreme Court ruling on compensation for forced laborers during Japanese colonial rule, and the meetings could not be held in 2020 and last year due to the spread of COVID-19.

The timing of the meeting, usually held between September and November each year, was specially moved up to July this year, interpreted as a result of a shared recognition that, since the meeting had not been held for a long time, it was necessary to meet promptly and open the way for full-scale improvement of relations with the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

The main agenda items of the meeting were ▲ economic trends and outlook of both countries ▲ Korea-Japan cooperation for realizing a sustainable society ▲ the new world order and international relations. Specifically, various proposals and discussions were made on mutual interests such as ▲ lifting mutual export restrictions ▲ reinstating the mutual visa-free entry system to expand human exchanges ▲ the necessity of Korea’s accession to the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) ▲ Korea-Japan joint cooperation for the development of the IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework) ▲ the formation of a Korea-US-Japan Business Summit.

In particular, regarding the lifting of mutual export restrictions, voices have increased that the two countries should maintain a stable supply chain connection in strategically important semiconductor and display industries. Japan took economic retaliation measures in July 2019 by tightening export controls on three key semiconductor and display materials to Korea, but the prevailing evaluation is that there are no practical benefits for either country.

There was also a consensus among participants from both sides that the mutual visa-free entry system, which was suspended after the spread of COVID-19, should be reinstated to expand human exchanges. The revival of the visa exemption program is essential for normalizing private exchanges. Since the mutual visa-free entry system between Korea and Japan was suspended in March 2020, the number of mutual visitors, which was about 10.5 million in 2018, sharply dropped to 34,000 as of last year.

Korean participants emphasized the necessity of Korea’s accession to the CPTPP and requested Japan’s support, and exchanged views on the need for Korea-Japan cooperation within the IPEF launched in May under the US Biden administration. The necessity of trilateral cooperation with the US, the biggest ally of both Korea and Japan, was raised, and proposals were made for the formation of a Korea-US-Japan Business Summit and regular meetings to strengthen practical trilateral cooperation in the economic field.

Meanwhile, the FKI and Keidanren adopted a joint declaration consisting of eight items and agreed to hold the 30th Korea-Japan Business Council Meeting in Tokyo next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.