Japan, South Korea partnership funds to go to chips, energy
Top business leaders from Japan and South Korea will use a fund meant to underscore the two countries’ burgeoning ties to strengthen their cooperation in energy, industry and other sectors
TOKYO (AP) — Top business leaders from Japan and South Korea announced Wednesday they will use a fund meant to underscore the two countries' burgeoning ties to strengthen their cooperation in energy, industry and other sectors.
Japan Business Federation, known as Keidanren, and its South Korean counterpart, the Federation of Korean Industry, announced a fund of 200 million yen ($1.5 million) in March. The money comes from an initial installment of 100 million yen ($750,000) from each side to complement efforts initiated by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's government to resolve a historical dispute over Japanese brutality during its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
The two groups selected specific areas of joint projects for the Future Partnership funds, focusing on youth exchanges and industrial cooperation, said Kendanren chair Masakazu Tokura and Federation of Korean Industry acting chair Kim Byong-joon Wednesday at a joint news conference in Tokyo. Areas of focus include semiconductor supply chain resiliency, energy security, maintaining the free and open international order, and climate change, among others.
“I'm extremely encouraged that the improvement of Japan-South Korea relations are now getting on the right track," Tokura said.
