Japanese and South Korean Business leaders agreed Friday that the two countries should sign a bilateral free-trade agreement at an early date, providing impetus for both governments to launch a full study on the issue.
"We agreed the two countries should create a new, common market of 170 million people by integrating the two economies," said Jiro Ushio, chairman of Japan's Ushio Inc., after a one-day, closed-door meeting in Tokyo of the Japan-Korea FTA Business Forum.
"This is a historic agreement," said panel member Yoshitaka Ishii, chairman of JR Kyushu Railway Co.