South Korea and Japan plan to resume their finance ministers’ talks this weekend to seek ways to expand economic ties amid growing global uncertainties, the government said Thursday.
The meeting between Choi Kyung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso, set for Saturday in Tokyo, is the first since the November 2012 meeting held in Seoul, the finance ministry said. Choi’s visit marks the first time that a deputy prime minister level official is visiting Japan since relations soured.
The two neighbors had been holding annual meetings since 2006 but fraying relations triggered by Japan’s move to deny its colonial and wartime atrocities put an end to the talks.
“The meeting can help open the way for better ties in the economic and financial areas,” the ministry said. “Choi and Taro will touch on the state of the global economy and discuss ways to work together on issues that affect both countries.”
Besides the bilateral meeting, the two sides will hold working-level talks on such matters as macroeconomics, fiscal policy, taxation, customs, bonds and international finance, the ministry said.
Such talks can allow the neighbors to better coordinate policies at the Group of Twenty and the ASEAN-plus-three talks, it added.
The finance ministry said that Choi, who will be in Japan from Thursday through Saturday, will visit Toray Industries automotive and aircraft center in Nagoya and its national composite center Friday. Toray is a global leader in polymers and advanced plastics.
South Korean parts company executives are expected to follow Choi on the Toray visit and take part in meetings with Toray executives. (Yonhap)
