Yoon Pledges Unwavering Support for Exchanges to Business Leaders from Korea and Japan (Comprehensive)

Attended Business Roundtable... Mentioned Supply Chain and "Cooperation on Global Agenda"
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong Expresses Willingness to Cooperate, Saying "The More Friends, the Better" Amid US Semiconductor Regulations

President Yoon Suk-yeol attended the "Korea-Japan Business Roundtable" held at the Keidanren Hall in Tokyo, Japan, on the 17th, and pledged to spare no support for economic cooperation between the two countries. Mentioning key cooperation areas such as supply chains and science and technology, President Yoon promised, "The governments of both countries will ensure that you can exchange freely and create innovative business opportunities."

On the afternoon of the same day, President Yoon attended the Korea-Japan Business Roundtable and stated, "I met with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to discuss various cooperation measures for the normalization of Korea-Japan relations, and we shared the intention to develop a future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship."

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who visited Japan for a 2-day trip, is listening to the opening remarks by Masakazu Tokura, Chairman of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), at the Korea-Japan Business Roundtable held at the Keidanren Hall in Tokyo on the 17th. On the left is Kim Byung-joon, Acting Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

This is the first time in 14 years that a Korean president has attended a Korea-Japan economic event since the "Korea-Japan Economic Leaders Meeting" held during President Lee Myung-bak's visit to Japan in June 2009. However, the much-anticipated joint attendance of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio did not materialize. Representatives from Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, defendant companies in the forced labor compensation lawsuits, also did not attend.

At the event, President Yoon said, "The two countries will jointly cooperate and respond to various global agendas such as supply chains, climate change, advanced science and technology, and economic security," adding, "I believe there is great potential for cooperation between the two countries in future advanced new industries such as digital transformation, semiconductors, batteries, and electric vehicles." He further explained, "Korean semiconductor manufacturers are closely linked with Japanese semiconductor material and equipment companies in the supply chain, and recently, Japanese automobile companies announced joint investment plans with Korean battery companies."

He reiterated the importance of Korea-Japan cooperation. President Yoon said, "President Kim Dae-jung and Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo emphasized exchanges between the peoples of the two countries, especially the younger generations, through the 21st Century New Korea-Japan Partnership Joint Declaration," and urged, "For cooperation between the two countries to develop into a high-level cooperative relationship, exchanges and participation of future generations are very important."

President Yoon also expressed gratitude for the Korea Federation of Economic Organizations and Keidanren coming together to establish the Korea-Japan Future Partnership Fund. He said, "If exchanges among future generations increase and mutual understanding and cooperation expand based on this fund, I am confident that the relationship between the two countries will become stronger," and added, "I ask for special support from the business community going forward."

At the Business Roundtable, from the Korean side, 12 business leaders attended, including Kim Byung-joon, Acting Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), Kim Yoon, Chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Association, Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung, Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, and Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, representing the four major conglomerates and the FKI leadership. From the Japanese side, 11 business leaders attended, including Tokura Masakazu, Chairman of Keidanren, and Sasaki Mikio, Chairman of the Japan-Korea Economic Association. Japanese companies represented included Sumitomo, Mitsui, Hitachi, Marubeni, Toray, Nomura Holdings, and Mitsubishi Corporation.

A presidential office official explained, "The government plans to promptly restore ministerial-level cooperation channels in economic fields such as finance, industry and trade, and science and technology, which had been suspended, to support the expansion of economic exchanges between the two countries, and to accelerate the implementation of major cooperative projects." Meanwhile, Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who was present with President Yoon, responded to a reporter's question about whether Korea and Japan could cooperate to respond to the U.S. semiconductor subsidy issue by saying, "From experience, the more friends you have, the better, and the fewer enemies, the better." The industry interprets this as expressing expectations for semiconductor cooperation with Japanese companies.

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