Japanese and South Korean business lobbies agreed Friday on the importance of continuing dialogue and boosting cooperation for a "future-oriented" relationship despite the two Asian neighbors' political relations sinking to their worst level in years due to wartime history and trade issues.
"Under any political or diplomatic relations, we recognize the importance to continue private-sector exchanges and further expand and deepen the two countries' economic and industrial cooperative ties through dialogue," the Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren, and the Federation of Korean Industries said in a joint statement following a meeting in Tokyo.
"We have renewed the determination to contribute to the future-oriented development in Japanese-South Korean relationship," the statement said.