South Korea’s Finance Minister said that his country is at a “turning point” in relations with Japan

South Korea’s finance minister said the nation sees it as standing at a “turning point” in economic relations with Japan.

Speaking to CNBC’s Cherry Kang at the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting in Incheon, South Korean Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Cho Kyung-ho praised Tokyo’s recent decision to put South Korea back on the list of preferred trading partners.

“My understanding is that Japan is handling this according to its legislative and administrative procedures,” Chu said, according to a CNBC translation. He added that South Korean officials hoped to complete the process “as soon as possible.”

“We believe that unnecessary regulations between the two countries will be completely removed, and we believe that we are now at a turning point for further cooperation between the two economies,” Zhou said.

The thaw in bilateral relations between Japan and Korea comes after South Korea announced that its companies would compensate people forced to work during Japan’s occupation of Korea in 1910-1945 – in an effort by South Korean President Yoon Sok-yul to improve strained relations between the two countries. Countries.

Earlier this week, the two countries also held their first bilateral financial ministerial meeting in seven years, and agreed to resume regular talks “at an appropriate time,” Chu’s Japanese counterpart Shunichi Suzuki reported after their meeting.

Zhou said the recent talks with Suzuki will lead to more economic cooperation between the two US allies.

“The recent bilateral summit has opened things up for improvement. So we can now expect cooperation between the two countries in expanding industrial and technological cooperation, as well as human youth exchange programs,” he said. “We believe that this will benefit both countries economically and contribute to regional growth as well,” he said.

Zhou added that the bilateral ties will be “mutually beneficial” for high-tech industries, including semiconductors.

“Especially in sectors where we see both countries in a ‘win-win’ situation, such as the promotion of high-tech industrial sectors – we believe this is why Japan and Korea are actively engaged in pushing for more cooperation through ministerial talks and intergovernmental dialogue. which we plan to further strengthen.”