Choo Kyung-ho: "Will Restore More Than 30 Suspended Korea-Japan Government Dialogue Channels"

Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting and Export Investment Countermeasures Meeting

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho announced on the 24th, "We will restore more than 30 government dialogue channels that were suspended due to deteriorated relations, and support the expansion and resumption of private economic consultation channels between Japanese economic organizations and groups such as the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry."

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Choo made these remarks while presiding over the 'Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting and Export Investment Measures Meeting' at the Government Complex Seoul.

Choo Kyung-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance.

The meeting discussed ▲ follow-up plans for the economic sector after the Korea-Japan summit ▲ detailed implementation plans for the National Advanced Industrial Belt ▲ strategies to revitalize exports in the biohealth industry ▲ export trends and countermeasures in the ICT industry sector.

First, the government plans to restore human exchanges between the two countries to the levels before the deterioration of relations. Deputy Prime Minister Choo explained, "To support achieving an annual exchange of 10,000 youths and 10 million citizens, we will promptly begin increasing flights between the two countries," adding, "We will expand future generation exchanges, which have been scaled down, such as the 'Korea-Japan Joint Higher Education Student Exchange Program' for students and graduate students, and the 'Korea-Japan High School Students, Academic Culture, and Youth Exchange Program."

In addition to expanding human exchanges, cooperation in new industries, joint investments, and supply chains that benefit both countries will be actively promoted and supported. Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "We will activate an inter-ministerial consultative body to materialize supply chain cooperation between the two countries in the semiconductor cluster to be established in Yongin," and added, "We will prepare cooperation measures such as promoting the establishment of a cooperative network between overseas infrastructure procurement agencies of both countries for joint entry into the global order markets in construction, energy, and smart cities." The government also plans to accelerate cooperation in new industries such as quantum, space, and bio, as well as the creation of joint venture and research and development (R&D) funds.

Furthermore, global issues such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the European Union (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will be addressed in a way that aligns with the joint interests of Korea and Japan, and joint research on common concerns such as low birthrate, aging population, and climate response will be promoted within the year.

The construction of the National Advanced Industrial Belt, which involves establishing 15 national industrial complexes nationwide, is a core foundation to induce large-scale investment and strengthen export competitiveness. The government plans to provide focused support so that construction can begin as early as 2026. Deputy Prime Minister Choo emphasized, "We will launch a pan-government joint promotion support team within this month and complete the selection of project implementers by April," adding, "To support rapid investment, we will promote a fast-track preliminary feasibility study to reduce the investigation period from 7 months to 2 months, and expedite permits and environmental impact assessments."

The government will also strengthen tailored support in each sector to secure a leading position in the rapidly growing global biohealth market.

In the pharmaceutical sector, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety plans to have Korea registered as a World Health Organization (WHO) Good Regulatory Practice agency within the first half of the year, so that domestic companies receive procedural advantages when obtaining overseas certifications for pharmaceuticals. In the medical device sector, the government will actively support excellent domestic medical devices in acquiring WHO procurement quality certification, and in the cosmetics sector, negotiations will be initiated to exempt on-site inspections when verifying raw material safety domestically to expand exports to China.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "To achieve an early recovery of ICT industry exports, which have been declining since the second half of last year, we will actively promote diversification of export items such as online video services (OTT) and AI semiconductors, and explore new markets in the Middle East and ASEAN," adding, "Specific strategies for this will be announced soon after discussions at today's meeting."

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