China, South Korea business leaders champion free trade

Aug. 29 (UPI) -- South Korea and China held a bilateral meeting representing heads of major companies for the first time in three years.

South Korean businesses that had taken a hit following unofficial Chinese boycotts against Korean firms in response to the deployment of U.S. missile defense on the peninsula are renewing their commitment to investments in China, South Korean news service News 1 reported Thursday.

The meeting between members of the Federation of Korean Industries and the China Enterprise Confederation took place in Shandong Province, China, according to the report.

Huh Chang-soo, chairman of the South Korean federation, said at the meeting the two countries became trading powers through the benefits of free trade.

China and South Korea are the "closest of neighbors in all fields, including in the area of economic and people-to-people exchange," Huh said.

The South Korean business leader also called on both sides to "work together to restore the free trade order through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the China-South Korea FTA."

RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and six large trading partners: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Huh also said bilateral cooperation, focused currently on manufacturing, should expand in the areas of healthcare, cultural contents and finance.

Senior South Korean business executives representing LG, Daesung Group, Korea Line Corp., CJ, Hyosung, and instant noodle company Nong Shim were in attendance.

Relations between Seoul and Beijing declined after South Korea deployed THAAD in central South Korea, but have improved as tensions with North Korea decreased in 2018.

The two countries remain at odds over the incursion of Chinese military aircraft in South Korea's air defense identification zone in July, however.

Yonhap reported Thursday Beijing's military denied aircraft invaded South Korean air space, when China deployed two H-6 bombers that flew with Russian aircraft.

South Korea scrambled several fighter jets in response to the deployment.