FKI delegation visits Japan amid frayed bilateral ties

SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a major business lobby here, said Thursday that its delegation visited Japan to attend a global meeting.

FKI chairman Huh Chang-soo, Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin and other business leaders attended the so-called B20, the two-day-long global gathering of business leaders from 20 major economies which runs through Friday.

The gathering aims to put together a draft proposal for free trade and a fair economy, according to the FKI. The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, is hosting the meeting.

During a meeting with Keidanren, the FKI agreed to hold bilateral talks with the Japanese business lobby in November this year.

Their meeting came as bilateral relations have soured over reparations by Japanese firms for wartime wrongdoings.

Last year, South Korea's Supreme Court ordered some Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of forced labor during World War II.

In January, a South Korean court approved the seizure of local assets from Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., which refuses to follow the ruling.

A group of other victims are also seeking the seizure of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.'s assets.

The Moon Jae-in administration said it respects the judiciary's decision. But the Japanese government has fiercely protested the move, claiming all reparations related to its 1910-45 colonization of Korea were settled in a state-to-state accord in 1965 to normalize bilateral ties.

Tokyo has hinted that it can levy tariffs on Korean goods and halt remittances.

sam@yna.co.kr
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