On Monday, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, held their 29th Korea-Japan Business Council meeting at the FKI Tower in Yeouido, Seoul. The council, which began holding annual meetings in 1983, had been on hiatus for over two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was also the first time that the chairmen of the nation’s four major conglomerates attended an FKI event after they departed from the lobby in 2016, following the organization’s alleged role in the influence-peddling scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye.

At the meeting, agendas such as the elimination of mutual export restrictions, the revival of the reciprocal visa-free entry system, the need for Korea to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the necessity of cooperation for the development of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework were reportedly discussed.

In addition, the FKI reported that a proposal had been made to form a regular “Korea-US-Japan business summit” to strengthen economic cooperation between the three countries.

“At this meeting, it was agreed that the two countries should deepen cooperation for building a future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship without losing any momentum, respecting the spirit of the 1998 Korea-Japan Joint Declaration, and paying attention to the challenges that have arisen since then,” read the joint statement by the two groups published after the meeting.

In the statement, the business leaders also affirmed the importance of developing and maintaining good relations between Korea and Japan, which share the values of democracy and the market economy, amidst the increasingly unstable international situation.

The Korea-Japan Joint Declaration: A New Korea-Japan Partnership towards the 21st Century — also known as the Kim Dae-jung-Obuchi Declaration — refers to an 11-point joint declaration signed in 1998 by President Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi aimed at overcoming the thorny history of the two countries and developing a future-oriented relationship.

The meeting on Monday was attended for the first time by all the heads of the four major conglomerates that had withdrawn from the FKI back in 2016 due to the organization’s alleged involvement in the Park Geun-hye corruption scandal.

Rhee In-yong, president of Samsung Electronics; Gong Young-woon, president of Hyundai Motor; Cho Joo-wan, president of LG Electronics; and Lee Young-wook, president of SK Materials were all in attendance.

An official from one of the four major groups said, “[The four groups] attended this event since it was held in Seoul for the first time in three years on account of the strong determination of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration to normalize relations with Japan,” adding that their attendance “has nothing to do with whether or not they’ll rejoin the FKI.”

On the Korean side, 20 people attended, including FKI Chairperson Huh Chang-soo, Lotte Group Chairperson Shin Dong-bin, Samyang Holdings Chairperson Kim Yoon, Chong Kun Dang Group Chairperson Lee Jang-han, Hyosung Group Chairperson Cho Hyun-joon, KB Holdings Chairperson Yoon Jong-kyoo, Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byong, Daishin Financial Group Chairperson Lee Auh-ryung, and SM Group Chairperson Woo Oh-hyun.

On the Japanese side, five people attended, including Chairman of the Japan Business Federation Masakazu Tokura, Mizuho Financial Group senior advisor Yasuhiro Sato, Mitsui & Co. Representative Director Chairman Tastuo Yasunaga, Hitachi Manufacturing Executive Chairman Toshiaki Higashihara, and President of the Japan Business Federation Masakazu Kubota.

By Kim Hoe-seung, senior staff writer

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