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Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been holding meetings with major business partners in Japan amid the ongoing trade disputes between Seoul and Tokyo, according to industry officials Monday.
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| Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong |
Canon Chairman Fujio Mitarai, who heads the organizing committee for the Rugby World Cup, reportedly invited Lee to the opening ceremony that was also attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"Lee has not come back yet. He is expected to meet with officials from Japanese companies of semiconductor materials and parts as well as those from banks and telecom companies to discuss business partnerships and other economic issues," an industry official said, asking not to be named.
Before attending the opening ceremony, officials of Samsung subsidiaries in Japan reported to Lee regarding the ongoing situation and discussed medium- and long-term business plans, according to Samsung Electronics.
It was Lee's second visit to Japan since July when Tokyo placed stiffened regulations on the export to Seoul of three high-tech materials used in the manufacturing of semiconductors and displays, in an apparent economic retaliation amid the two nations' conflict over compensation claims by surviving South Korean victims of forced labor in Japanese factories during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
Then, the Japanese government removed Korea from its whitelist of 27 countries granted preferential treatment in trade.
The measures have threatened to directly influence Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of memory chips, as well as the second-largest SK hynix.
According to Japanese media, the Japanese business community is also seeking to maintain relations with Samsung as a major partner despite the political dispute between the two nations.
