and Keidanren Establish Steering Committee for 'Future Partnership Fund'

Press Conference in Tokyo on the 10th... Four Members Each from FKI and Keidanren Chairpersons

Major business organizations from Korea and Japan announced on the 10th that they have agreed to establish a joint steering committee and advisory committee for the Korea-Japan / Japan-Korea Future Partnership Fund project.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) held a joint press conference at the Keidanren Hall in Tokyo on the afternoon of the same day to announce the fund project plan.

Kim Byung-joon, Acting Chairman of FKI, said, "Following President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to Japan in March and Prime Minister Kishida's visit to Korea on the 7th and 8th, shuttle diplomacy between Korea and Japan has been fully restored for the first time in 12 years," adding, "The two organizations have agreed to establish a joint steering committee to decide the direction and specific contents of the joint fund project."

Kim Byung-joon, Acting Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (left), is seen speaking about the 'Future Partnership Fund' at a press conference in Tokyo, Japan, last March, together with Tokura Masakazu, Chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Chairman and CEO of Sumitomo Chemical).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The joint steering committee co-chairs will be Acting Chairman Kim Byung-joon and Keidanren Chairman Tokura Masakazu.

From Korea, Kim Yoon, Vice Chairman of FKI and Chairman of Samyang Holdings, Lee Woong-yeol, Vice Chairman of FKI and Honorary Chairman of Kolon, and Bae Sang-geun, Executive Director of FKI, will participate as members. From Japan, Sato Yasuhiro, Special Advisor of Mizuho Financial Group, Higashihara Toshiaki, Chairman of Hitachi, Ltd., and Kubota Masakazu, Vice Chairman of Keidanren, were selected as members.

The advisory committee chairs will be Professor Kang Sung-jin of Korea University and Professor Fukagawa Yukiko of Waseda University.

The two organizations agreed to strengthen talent exchange and industrial cooperation through the joint fund project. For talent exchange, they are considering enhancing exchanges between universities of both countries, inviting Korean high school teachers to Japan, and promoting internships.

In terms of industrial cooperation, they agreed to collaborate on economic security environment improvements such as semiconductor supply chains and energy security, maintaining and strengthening a free and open international order, green transition and digital transformation, and infectious disease prevention.

The two organizations plan to hold the "Korea-Japan Industrial Cooperation Forum" in Seoul this July to discuss semiconductors, decarbonization issues, and more.

The fund establishment plan was disclosed after the Korean government announced that it would pay court-ordered compensation to forced labor victims during the Japanese colonial period through a government-affiliated foundation. The two organizations announced the fund creation on March 16, coinciding with President Yoon’s visit to Japan. FKI will contribute 1 billion KRW, and Keidanren will contribute 100 million JPY (approximately 1 billion KRW) to the fund project.

Kim Bong-man, Director of the International Headquarters at FKI, said, "FKI will find and implement concrete measures to create economic synergy between the two countries," adding, "Through the joint steering committee, we will execute joint projects to enhance mutual understanding between the Korean and Japanese people."

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