KOTRA Hosts "Korea-Japan Open Innovation Cooperation Day" Inviting Nikkei Delegation from Japan

Ten Innovative Companies from Both Countries Compete in Pitching Session
Regular Cross-Delegation Visits to Japan Scheduled for November

Amid increasing demand for economic cooperation following a series of reciprocal diplomatic visits between the leaders of South Korea and Japan, a delegation comprising 14 leading Japanese media and technology companies visited South Korea to seek collaboration with Korean artificial intelligence (AI) firms.

On the 10th, the 'Korea-Japan Open Innovation Cooperation Day' was held at the KOTRA headquarters. KOTRA

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced on the 12th that it hosted the "Korea-Japan Open Innovation Cooperation Day" at its headquarters on the 10th, inviting an AI business delegation led by Nikkei Inc., a leading Japanese economic daily.

This event was organized to promote technological cooperation and open innovation between innovative companies of both countries in response to the restructuring of global supply chains and the acceleration of AI transformation (AX). Fourteen Japanese companies, including five winners of "Nikkei The Pitch"—a startup and new business discovery program operated by Nikkei, Japan’s largest economic and industrial media group—along with Nikkei member firms, visited Korea at KOTRA’s invitation. "Nikkei The Pitch" is a project launched by Nikkei in 2024 to discover and support startups, family-business successors (Atotsugi), next-generation ventures, and social enterprises in Japan, and consists of pitch contests and both domestic and international networking events.

During the Korea-Japan corporate pitching session held that day, a total of 10 companies—five from Korea and five from Japan—participated. On the Korean side, Caplix, Geogrid, Team Sparta, JL Standard, and HiLocal presented their AI solutions and business models. On the Japanese side, Kamameshi, Mekari Shurin, AOI Bioscience, Higuchi Electron, and True Camera introduced their technologies and outlined their collaboration needs.

Notably, this partnering project incorporated AI systems not only in the pitching topics but also throughout the event. HiLocal, a company specializing in AI-based real-time interpretation solutions, not only participated in the pitching session but also provided AI interpretation services for the entire event, enabling presentations, consultations, Q&A sessions, and recordkeeping to proceed seamlessly without language barriers between the two countries' companies.

Currently, in the Japanese market, there is growing demand to partner with Korean advanced technology firms to address social challenges such as an aging population, to drive regional innovation, and to expand new businesses. For Korean innovative companies, collaborating with Japanese firms with the backing of major Japanese media groups offers advantages for entering the Japanese market and promoting their technologies through prominent Japanese media outlets.

An attendee from JL Standard, an AI digital human solutions company that introduced an AI memorial service, commented, "There is strong interest from the Japanese side in AI digital twin technology that utilizes photos and voice data of the deceased, targeting Japan's super-aged society. We are already pursuing market entry, including signing an MOU with a Japanese funeral company last year, and we expect this event will accelerate further discussions for business collaboration with Japanese firms."

KOTRA plans to institutionalize this cooperation through ongoing discussions with Nikkei, dispatching cross-delegations between Korea and Japan, and developing it into a leading bilateral innovation initiative. KOTRA will leverage the partnership opportunities identified during this event to enhance proof-of-concept (PoC) projects, technological cooperation, investment, and partnership outcomes between companies from both countries. In celebration of Nikkei’s 150th anniversary, KOTRA also plans to promote large-scale cooperation projects in Japan over three days in November, facilitate reciprocal AI delegations in July (to Korea) and November (to Japan), and thereby generate tangible Korea-Japan innovation outcomes.

Myeonghee Kim, Vice President and Head of the Industrial Innovation Division at KOTRA, stated, "The AI and robotics sectors are prime areas where Japanese companies, government, and local authorities seek collaboration with Korea to address the challenges of an aging society and labor shortages. By expanding cooperation with major media groups like Nikkei, we will actively support our AI companies to seize opportunities for proof-of-concept projects, trade and investment, and technology partnerships in Japan."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.