Chey Tae-won: "Let Korean and Japanese young people work across borders and recognize each other's careers and qualifications"

[Financial News Sendai·Seoul = Correspondents Seo Hye-jin and Lim Su-bin] Chey Tae-won, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and chairman of SK Group, proposed linking the youth labor markets of South Korea and Japan as a solution to low birthrates. He said the two countries should allow young people to work across borders and recognize careers and qualifications earned in one country in the other, broadening the foundation for jobs and income. Voices at the event also called for structural reforms that go beyond simple cash handouts and improve jobs, housing, and mobility.■Chey Tae-won: "From tourism to jobs and settlement in Korea and Japan"In his opening remarks at the first Korea-Japan Low Birthrate Countermeasures Symposium, held on the 30th at The Westin Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, Chey said, "If the two countries join forces to enable young people to work between Korea and Japan, we can create better jobs and more opportunities."
He stressed, "We need to make it possible to use careers and qualifications gained in one country in the other as well," adding, "Young people must be able to broaden their horizons for income and opportunity."
Chey noted that cross-border travel between Korea and Japan topped 13 million people last year, but said tourism exchanges should be expanded into employment, education, and settlement. "Tourism alone is not enough," he said. "We need to further expand opportunities to work and learn across the two countries."
He identified unstable employment and income among young people as key causes of low birthrates. "The biggest reason young people do not choose marriage and childbirth is that stable jobs and income are not secured," Chey said. "As a result, they delay marriage and childbirth or give them up altogether."
He also emphasized the responsibility of companies. "The role of businesses is clear," he said. "They must create good jobs and build workplaces where people can raise children while working."
As measures for Korea-Japan cooperation, Chey proposed three steps: expanding job and education opportunities between the two countries, revitalizing regional exchanges, and improving productivity through artificial intelligence (AI). He also said exchanges concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area and other major cities should be extended to regional areas to create jobs and business opportunities.
He also called for using AI and care robots to address labor shortages and the burden on welfare systems. "The number of people available to work is declining, while the number of people who need care and medical services keeps rising," Chey said. "AI can be a tool to ease that burden." He added, "By using care robots and AI, we can reduce social costs while increasing the value created by each young person."
"The people who will enter the labor market have already been born, but the value they will create has not yet been decided," he said. "We need to start by helping young people work and learn across the two countries, and by expanding exchanges into the regions."■42% of Japanese respondents said they do not plan to marry; Korean youth face employment and housing burdensThe Korea-Japan Youth Survey 2026, released the same day, also found that employment and income insecurity are limiting marriage and childbirth. The survey, conducted by the Japanese private think tank Conference for Choosing the Future and KCCI, polled 4,000 people in total, with 2,000 respondents aged 20 to 39 in each country. Among unmarried respondents, 42.4% in Japan and 18.6% in Korea said they had no intention of ever marrying. Japan's figure was 2.3 times higher than Korea's.
Korean young people were relatively more willing to marry, but they faced heavier burdens from employment and housing. Among regular employees, 82.1% in Korea and 62.2% in Japan said salary and working conditions were the most important factors when choosing a job. Job stability was cited by 35.1% in Korea and 20.6% in Japan, while work-life balance was chosen by 35.1% and 27.7%, respectively. The share of people who found jobs almost immediately after graduation was 74.8% in Japan and 46.5% in Korea, a gap of 28.3 percentage points.
For childbirth, respondents in both countries most often pointed to reducing financial burdens. In Korea, demands for better working conditions were generally higher than in Japan, including guaranteed leave and return to work, shorter working hours, and more flexible schedules for fathers.
Youngtae Cho, head of the Population Policy Research Center at Seoul National University, proposed opening the Korean and Japanese youth labor markets to one another as a direction for joint research. He suggested creating a pathway from tourism to living, then to workation, and eventually to employment and settlement, while lowering barriers such as work visas, qualification recognition, and continuity in social insurance. "Expanding the places young people can go can be a powerful measure against low birthrates," Cho said.
The Korea-Japan business communities also officially launched the Korea-Japan Low Birthrate Countermeasures Exchange Committee on the day. Chey and Ken Kobayashi, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), will serve as co-chairs. The committee will jointly study issues such as youth employment, housing, social security, and regional imbalances, and will also consider policy recommendations.
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