Chaebol tycoons to meet Japanese counterparts during Yoon's Japan visit

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, right, and other conglomerate chiefs talk to each other before the government's New Year's ceremony held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul on Jan. 2, 2020. From right are, Lee, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

By Kim Hyun-bin

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) is coordinating plans to open a business roundtable in Japan on March 17 with Keidanren, a major Japanese business lobby group. Major conglomerate chiefs are also scheduled to attend the meeting, according to industry officials, Monday.

The meeting will be held on the sidelines of President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to Japan from March 16 to 17.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that the FKI and Keidanren are coordinating plans to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Korea-Japan summit. The top four major conglomerate chiefs ― Samsung Electronics' Lee Jae-yong, SK Group's Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo ― are scheduled to attend the meeting.

Separately, the FKI requested the participation of the four major groups that had previously withdrawn from the FKI after the 2016 national corruption scandal, which resulted in former President Park Geun-hye serving time behind bars.

The FKI's vice chairman group will also visit Japan to attend the meeting.

The vice-chairman group includes Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, Samyang Holdings Chairman Kim Yoon, Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won, and Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon. Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan is expected to attend on behalf of Chairman Kim Seung-youn.

On the Japanese side CEOs of large corporations, including Sumitomo Chemical Chairman Masakazu Tokura, who is the chairman of Keidanren, will also attend.

The FKI and Keidanren are in final discussions on the number of participants and the agenda for the meeting.

The two business lobby groups have held annual Korea-Japan business meetings since 1982 to deepen understanding and promote friendship between the business worlds of the two countries.

Based on this cooperative relationship, the business community of both countries is expected to discuss intensively a fund created by Korean and Japanese companies in connection with compensation for victims of forced labor during Japanese imperial rule over Korea from 1910 to 1945.

In addition, cooperation measures to realize a decarbonized society and energy security will also be discussed as major agenda items and reaffirm their cooperative relationship. Small and medium-sized businesses are also expected to seek ways to restore economic cooperation between the two countries.