Chey Tae-won, president of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said on the 30th that "if Korea and Japan join forces so young people can go back and forth between the two countries to work, we can provide better jobs and more opportunities."
In his opening remarks at the first meeting of the Korea-Japan Low Birthrate Response Exchange Committee, held on the 30th at the Westin Sendai in Japan, Chey said, "We need to strengthen the linkage between the two countries to the level of an economic community."
The "Korea-Japan economic community" proposed by Chey is a call to expand exchanges between the two countries, which are now centered on tourism, to the broader scope of economic activity, including employment, education, and recognition of qualifications and careers.
Through this, by lowering expense and expanding the market, more jobs and opportunities can be created so young people can secure income stably, and the low birthrate problem can also be solved, Chey believes.
He said, "The solution to the low birthrate problem is to create conditions in which young people can feel free to have children and marry," adding, "Young people need to be able to broaden the horizons of income and opportunity."
Chey added, "The business community also clearly has a role," saying, "We must create good jobs and change workplaces so people can raise children while working."
Chey said that compared with the time of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, the annual number of newborns in the two countries has fallen from about 2 million to about 1 million, adding, "There are differences in speed and conditions, but neither country has much time left."
He also said, "Population change is not a forecast for the distant future but a reality that is already strongly constraining corporations and the economy," adding, "We must also hurry to adapt to demographic change."
Chey said productivity must be increased by using artificial intelligence (AI). He said, "Everyone who will enter the labor market over the next 10 years has already been born, but the value they will create has not yet been set," adding, "If we align systems with new technologies such as AI, we can greatly raise the value that each young person can create."
At the meeting, a perception survey of 4,000 young people in the two countries was also released. Among unmarried young people in Korea, 81.4% said they intend to marry, higher than Japan's 57.6%. The share who want children was also higher in Korea at 76.8%, compared with Japan's 50.5%.
As conditions for marriage (multiple responses), both countries most frequently cited "stability in employment and income for oneself and one's spouse." The figures were 51.8% for Korea and 41.1% for Japan. As conditions to safely have and raise children (multiple responses), "easing the financial burden" was also most frequently cited in both countries (56.0% in Korea and 46.7% in Japan).
Attendees at the meeting included Chey and Kobayashi Ken, president of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The exchange committee was launched as the two governments began addressing common social issues such as low birthrate and aging and regional revitalization following last year's Korea-Japan summit. As the two sides agreed to hold an annual symposium in rotation, the second meeting will be held in Korea next year.