S. Korea, Japan to hold finance ministerial meeting this week in Tokyo

South Korea and Japan plan to hold a financial ministerial meeting this week to discuss bilateral economic ties, the finance ministry said Tuesday.

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho will meet with his Japanese counterpart, Shunichi Suzuki, in Tokyo on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The upcoming meeting marks the first of its kind since 2016.

The two had agreed to resume the long-stalled finance ministers' meeting on the sidelines of the 56th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank held here in early May.

"During the meeting, (the two ministers) will share their views on the global and bilateral economies," the finance ministry said in a statement, noting other issues will include Seoul and Tokyo's cooperation on global agenda, including those of the Group of 20.

The finance ministry said earlier South Korea will discuss a currency swap deal with Japan during the upcoming finance ministers' meeting. The currency swap deal between the two nations expired in 2015.

Seoul and Tokyo had talks to revive the US$10 billion currency swap deal, but they have been suspended since 2019 amid a feud over diplomatic and historical issues.

A currency swap is a tool meant to defend against financial turmoil by allowing a country beset by a liquidity crunch to borrow money from others with its own currency.

"The two countries will (also) engage in discussions to collaborate on infrastructure projects in third countries, along with exploring opportunities for cooperation on finance and tax-related matters," the ministry said.

The ministry added Choo plans to meet officials from Japanese banks and asset managers on Friday to share opinions on ways to promote bilateral financial ties.

The bilateral relationship had soured in 2019, as Japan imposed export curbs against South Korea in retaliation against the 2018 South Korean Supreme Court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate South Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Relations between South Korea and Japan began to thaw this year after President Yoon Suk Yeol offered to resolve the forced labor issue by compensating victims on South Korea's own without asking for contributions from Japan.

Yoon made a rare visit to Tokyo in March for a bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, becoming the first South Korean president to make such a trip to Japan in 12 years. Kishida reciprocated Yoon's trip with a visit to South Korea in May.

Earlier on Tuesday, Japan announced its plan to reinstate South Korea on its "white list" of trusted trading partners, about four years after the removal, in a move to improve the bilateral economic relationship. (Yonhap)