The Korea-Japan Business Meeting to be Held in Tokyo, Japan from the 13th to 16th of Next Month

Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and 300 Korea-Japan Business Leaders Attend
Former Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide's Greeting
Joint Statement Adoption and Joint Press Conference Scheduled

The Korea-Japan Economic Conference, where key business figures from Korea and Japan gather in one place to explore ways to enhance economic cooperation, will be held in mid-next month in Tokyo, Japan.

The 54th Korea-Japan Business Meeting held on May 30, 2022, at Lotte Hotel, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to the business community on the 23rd, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea-Japan Economic Association, together with the Japanese side’s Japan-Korea Economic Association and Japan-Korea Industrial Technology Cooperation Foundation, will hold the 56th Korea-Japan Economic Conference under the theme "A Korea-Japan Partnership Leading to the Future" from the 13th to the 16th of next month at the Okura Hotel in Tokyo.

The conference will be attended by about 300 business leaders from both Korea and Japan, including Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group and Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kim Yoon, Chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Association (Chairman of Samyang Holdings), and Sasaki Mikio, Chairman of the Japan-Korea Economic Association (former Chairman of Mitsubishi Corporation). The meeting will discuss current issues related to promoting economic exchanges such as enhancing trade, investment, and industrial technology cooperation between the two countries, and seek ways to cooperate.

Especially as the conference is held ahead of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan in 2025, a new joint declaration on the Korea-Japan partnership (economic version) is also planned. On the Japanese side, former Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Mori Takeo and on the Korean side, Chairman Chey Tae-won will each deliver keynote speeches. Former Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide is also expected to attend and give a greeting.

A session themed "Expansion of Economic Linkage and Cooperation" and "Realization of Broad and Diverse Exchanges" will be held, reporting and making recommendations from the Korea-Japan New Industry Trade Conference, discussing ways to stabilize the global supply chain and cooperate in hydrogen economy and robotics industries between Korea and Japan. Afterwards, participants will adopt a joint statement and hold a joint press conference.

Previously, at the 55th Korea-Japan Economic Conference held face-to-face in Seoul last year for the first time in four years, business leaders from both countries adopted and announced a joint statement to actively cooperate in new industries such as digital and green sectors and to revitalize exchanges in various fields to strengthen the partnership. The Korea-Japan Economic Conference is a representative private economic conference between Korea and Japan, and since the first meeting in 1969, despite political conflicts and difficulties in exchanges due to COVID-19, it has been held alternately in both countries every year without interruption, serving as a central axis for Korea-Japan cooperation. Up to last year, the total number of participants was 6,367 from Korea and 5,786 from Japan, totaling 12,153.

The Korea-Japan Economic Association stated, "Following last year’s Korea-Japan summit and friendly exchanges, relations between the two countries are normalizing," adding, "Building on this momentum, Korea-Japan business leaders will strengthen activities to 'step up' the cooperative atmosphere between the two countries at the economic level."