Trade minister meets Japanese envoy to discuss economic partnership

The trade minister met with the Japanese ambassador to Korea on Thursday and discussed ways to strengthen the countries' economic partnership amid growing uncertainty in the global trade environment, officials said.

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met with Koichi Mizushima in Seoul earlier in the day as President Lee Jae Myung prepares to visit Japan to hold his first summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba next Saturday.

Yeo highlighted the importance of strengthening practical economic cooperation between the two countries as Korea and Japan mark 60 years since their normalization of diplomatic relations.

The minister also proposed working together to stabilize supply chains and solve trade-related issues in areas such as artificial intelligence and climate change.

Further, Yeo proposed fostering communication between the two countries' overseas missions and trade promotion agencies to ensure the successful hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, set to take place in Korea, and the Osaka Kansai Expo in Japan this year.

Yonhap