Japan and South Korea resume financial dialogue amid improving relations

Japan and South Korea agreed to resume dialogue between their financial authorities, in the latest sign of improvement in their bilateral relations, deteriorated by the war history.

As reported by Kyodo NewsThe agreement came during a meeting between Japan’s Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and his counterpart Choo Kyung Ho in Incheon, northwestern South Korea. The two countries held their first formal ministerial talks on the economy in seven years.

“The two nations are proactively engaged in summit-level dialogue, so it is important that talks on the financial track also move forward,” Suzuki said, adding that financial authorities will meet “at the right time.”

Masato Kanda, vice finance minister for international affairs, will visit South Korea to finalize the details in June, according to Suzuki.

The finance dialogue is a framework for senior officials of the two nations to discuss economic and financial matters and was previously held in 2016.

The ADB holds its 56th Annual Meeting in Incheon, South Korea

In March, South Korea made a proposal to resolve the issue of Japan’s compensation for Korean wartime workers, helping to improve ties that had hit their lowest point in years over labor and other war-related issues. Japanese colonization of the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945.

Choo welcomed the recent improvement in spirits between the two nations, which share universal values ​​and promote free trade.

“We need to strengthen cooperation between financial authorities in the face of the recent emergence of geopolitical risks and supply chain instability,” Choo said at the beginning of the meeting with Suzuki.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of this week’s Asian Development Bank-related meetings.

In a separate meeting, the finance ministers and central bank governors of Japan, China and South Korea agreed to strengthen cooperation to ensure economic growth in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, minimize its lasting negative effects and prepare for future shocks.