Choi Sang-mok Meets Japanese Ambassador: "Expanding Korea-Japan Economic Cooperation to Energy and Ventures"

On the 21st, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, met with Koichi Mizushima, the newly appointed Ambassador of Japan to Korea, to discuss economic cooperation measures.

Deputy Prime Minister Choi met Ambassador Mizushima at the Government Seoul Office in the afternoon and said, "Korea and Japan are important trading partners to each other," adding, "Since the restoration of 'shuttle diplomacy' last year, the scope of economic cooperation between Korea and Japan has expanded to areas such as energy and ventures."

He emphasized, "The Korea-Japan Finance Ministers' Meeting is a useful consultative body that allows sharing of policy experiences and strengthening cooperation in various fields such as economic policy and taxation," and added, "Going forward, through various forms of exchanges between the two governments, mutual understanding can be further enhanced."

He also requested the Japanese government’s interest and cooperation regarding the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and finance ministers' meeting, for which Korea will serve as the chair country next year.

In response, Ambassador Mizushima expressed agreement on the necessity of cooperation through bilateral and multilateral consultative bodies, noting that "economic cooperation between the two countries is taking place in various fields," according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Deputy Prime Minister Choi explained that the Korean government is implementing various policies, including improving foreign investors' access to government bonds to be included in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI), and requested Japan’s interest. Ambassador Mizushima also highly evaluated the achievements in improving investment accessibility.