By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul met with Chey Tae-won, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and chairman of SK Group, at the KCCI building in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Jan. 24 to discuss current issues in the business community and cooperation in the fields of foreign affairs and security.

Cho, who took office on Jan. 12, has been visiting economic organizations and exchanging views with their leaders on ways to strengthen public-private partnerships. On Jan. 22, he met with Ryu Jin, chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).

Among those on the meeting were Woo Tae-hee, standing vice chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lee Hyung-hee, vice chairman of the Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Kim Jin-dong, director of bilateral economic diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Congratulating the KCCI on its 140th anniversary, Minister Cho said, "We look forward for the KCCI to continuing to play a pivotal role in supporting and representing our business people, as it has done in contributing to our country's remarkable economic growth, and we hope to further strengthen public-private cooperation in this process."

"To help our economy return to its recovery trajectory and continue its robust growth during this period of structural transformation, which is characterized by the convergence of economics and security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will utilize its network of diplomatic missions to monitor key economic and security trends and take the lead in addressing the challenges faced by companies operating overseas to help them enter the global market," Minister Cho said.

"I think we should utilize the ministry's network with the business community to strategically navigate the difficult internal and external environments," Chairman Choi said, adding, “The minister is a trade expert, so we have high expectations from the business community."