Businessman Appeals "Difficulties with Korea-Japan Entry Restrictions"... Japanese Ambassador Says "Will Strive to Resume Travel"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Amid worsening Korea-Japan relations, with businesspeople from both countries citing entry restrictions as their biggest challenge, Koichi Aiboshi, the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Korea in April, said on the 16th at a business meeting hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), "We will actively strive to resume exchanges as soon as possible so that economic figures can interact."

Ambassador Aiboshi attended the meeting held on the 3rd floor Diamond room of the FKI Conference Center and stated, "The timing for resuming personal exchanges should be comprehensively judged considering domestic and international infection situations and the implementation of quarantine measures." He also said, "There is great potential for cooperation between the highly skilled Korean and Japanese business communities."

Ambassador Aiboshi’s remarks came in response to Korean and Japanese businesspeople identifying entry restrictions between the two countries as their biggest difficulty at this time. Businesspeople attending the open discussion expressed difficulties in exchanges between the two countries and requested that the government work to resume the special entry procedures for businesspeople, which are currently temporarily suspended for those who have completed vaccination.

The businesspeople also suggested that the travel bubble (quarantine exemption for travel) currently being pursued between Korea and some countries like Taiwan should be considered for introduction between Korea and Japan to revitalize private exchanges. Another participating company expressed a strong will to strengthen exchanges and business cooperation between Korean and Japanese materials companies. They requested the new ambassador’s support, hoping that Japan, with its excellent materials technology, and Korea, with its commercialization capabilities, would actively seek business cooperation in future growth industries such as semiconductors, displays, and batteries.

Regarding the recently emerging issue between Korea and Japan about the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima nuclear wastewater treatment, Ambassador Aiboshi said, "We fully understand the concerns of the Korean people and have communicated with the Korean government over the past two and a half years through more than 100 exchanges of opinions and data provision." He added, "We will continue to share information transparently to alleviate the concerns of the Korean people, and it is necessary to handle this issue scientifically to prevent it from negatively affecting Korea-Japan relations," seeking understanding from Korean and Japanese businesspeople about the Japanese government’s response.

About 30 Korean and Japanese businesspeople attended the meeting, including Huh Chang-soo, chairman of the FKI, and representatives from Hanwha Energy, Lotte Construction, SK Materials, Toray Advanced Materials, Chong Kun Dang, Samyang Corporation, and TYM (formerly Dongyang Moolsan Corporation).

In his opening remarks, Chairman Huh said, "Due to the recent deterioration in Korea-Japan relations, personal and material exchanges have shrunk, causing damage to the economies, companies, and general public of both countries," expressing hope that Ambassador Aiboshi would actively work to improve Korea-Japan relations. He also said, "There are many areas for cooperation between Korea and Japan, such as global carbon neutrality, US-China conflicts, and responding to the 4th Industrial Revolution," and requested the ambassador’s strong support for the Korea-Japan Business Council scheduled to be held in Seoul this November by the FKI and the Japan Business Federation, as well as the Asia Business Summit (ABS) attended by major Asian economic organizations.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Aiboshi was newly appointed in April after his predecessor, Koji Domita, moved to serve as the Japanese Ambassador to the United States. He served as First Secretary and Counselor from 1999 to 2001 and as Counselor and Minister from 2006 to 2008. He is known to be fluent in Korean and fond of Korean culture.