Complementary Cooperation
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) of Korea and the Japan Business Federation of Japan will actively cooperate to resolve the problems of Korean youth’s unemployment and Japanese companies’ difficulties in hiring talented workers by holding the “27th Korea-Japan Business Meeting” at the Japan Business Federation Building in Tokyo, Japan on October 20.
The Korean and Japanese economic circles agreed on the different employment situations of the two countries and decided to go ahead with a joint project for "win-win" growth. As part of this plan, the FKI and the Japan Business Federation will jointly hold a public seminar on young talents for Japanese companies for talented young Korean people in Seoul next spring.
According to the FKI, demand for young new workers is high thanks to an economic recovery sparked off by “Abenomics” and the coming Tokyo Olympics Japan’s prolonged low fertility rate cut its population, giving rise to a labor shortage. Currently, there are about 1.52 jobs per job seeker and Japanese companies are having difficulties in obtaining excellent human resources.
By contrast, the Korean job market has been having a prolonged slump due to a lack of decent jobs. Last month, the youth unemployment rate in Korea hit 21.5%, the highest since the start of the calculation of the rate. Over the past two years, the number of Koreans who obtained jobs overseas through programs of the Human Resource Development Service has nearly tripled and the largest number of them has been employed in Japan among countries.
In addition, the Korean and Japanese economic communities agreed on the necessity of holding a Korea-Japan summit earlier in order to establish stable political and diplomatic relations in Northeast Asia amid North Korea's continuing provocations. In particular, the FKI of Korea and the Japan Business Federation of Japan agreed to cooperate as much as possible to hold a "Korea-Japan-China business summit" in connection with a summit among the three countries.
In attendance from the Korean side were 15 VIPs including Huh Chang-soo, chairman of the FKI and the GS Group, Park Sam-koo, chairman of the Kumho Asiana Group, Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the CJ Group and Hwang Kak-kyu, a president of the Lotte Group.
From Japan, 17 movers and shakers of the Japanese business world took part in the event. They included Sakakibara Sadayuki, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, Iwasa Hiromichi, chairman of Mitsui Real Estate and Kenichiro Yamanishi, chairman of Mitsubishi.