Japan, South Korea small business leaders appear for reset immediately after wartime labour strain

TOKYO, March 17 (Reuters) – Prime small business leaders from Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo on Friday, pledging higher financial cooperation as they seek to pivot away from years of strain and acrimony more than compensation for forced wartime labour.

The head of Japan’s Keidanren small business lobby met with members of its South Korean counterpart, the Federation of Korean Industries, as effectively South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday morning.

Yoon is in Japan for the initial take a look at by a South Korean president in 12 years. On Thursday Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida promised to turn the web page on years of animosity more than their countries’ tricky, share history.

The lack of cooperation involving the two nations has lengthy undercut U.S.-led efforts to present a united front against China and North Korea.

Indicators of a breakthrough came final week when Seoul announced a strategy for its organizations to compensate former forced labourers.

The two small business lobbies have agreed to launch foundations aimed at “future-oriented” bilateral relations.

Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama and Kiyoshi Takenaka Editing by David Dolan, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Gerry Doyle

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