Kishida to meet with chiefs of S. Korean business lobbies

▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (R) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands as they hold a joint press conference following their talks at the presidential office in Seoul on May 7, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (3rd from R), accompanied by his government officials, sits with leaders of six South Korean business associations, including Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chair Chey Tae-won (6th from L), during a closed-door roundtable meeting in Seoul on May 8, 2023, in this photo provided by the Federation of Korean Industries. The meeting took place on the second day of Kishida's two-day working visit to South Korea, during which he had his second summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol in less than two months after their first summit in March amid a warming of bilateral relations. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (6th from L) poses for a photo with heads of South Korean business associations, including Koo Ja-yeol (4th from L) of the Korea International Trade Association, Kim Byong-joon (4th from R), acting chair of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), and Chey Tae-won (3rd from R) of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during a closed-door roundtable meeting in Seoul on May 8, 2023, in this photo provided by the FKI. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

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Kishida to meet with chiefs of S. Korean business lobbies

SEOUL, May 8 (Yonhap) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was set to meet with chiefs of major South Korean business associations Monday and discuss ways to expand bilateral cooperation in economic fields, such as global supply chains, according to industry sources.

The closed-door session comes on the second day of Kishida's two-day working visit to South Korea, a highly symbolic trip that marks a start for the restoration of bilateral relations long frayed over issues rooted in Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

On Sunday, Kishida and President Yoon Suk Yeol held a summit, the second of its kind in less than two months, amid a warming in bilateral ties after Seoul proposed compensating Korean forced labor victims without contributions from accused Japanese companies.

At Monday's meeting, Kishida will meet the heads of six business lobbies, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who chairs the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), according to the sources familiar with the matter.

The other associations include: the Federation of Korean Industries, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Federation of SMEs, the Korea Enterprises Federation and the Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea.

Kim Yoon, chairman of Samyang Holdings Corp., who is heading the Korea-Japan Economic Association, will also join the session.

The participants are expected to reaffirm the commitment to revitalizing economic exchanges in a wide range of sectors upon the resumption of "shuttle diplomacy," or regular mutual visits, as agreed between the two countries at the first summit in March when Yoon visited Japan.

Joint responses to global supply chains, particularly in the semiconductor sector and sourcing of critical minerals for secondary battery manufacturing, will likely be among the key agenda items for the discussion, as well as cooperation in future industries, like space, digital and bio technologies.

Following the summit Sunday, Yoon and Kishida said the two countries agreed to bolster semiconductor supply chains through closer coordination between Korean semiconductor manufacturers, and Japanese component and equipment makers.

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