Business leaders from South Korea and Japan agreed to expand cooperation in AI and semiconductors, while pushing for Seoul's membership to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP).

In a joint statement adopted at the 57th South Korea-Japan Business Conference in Seoul on Wednesday, the two sides agreed to establish and develop bilateral trust, expand linking of their economies, utilize the CPTPP and increase exchanges.

With the two countries marking the 60th anniversary of normalization of two-way ties, the business leaders said bilateral cooperation is inevitable as they share ideologies of freedom and democracy and are in a competitive yet mutually supplementary business relationship.

The leaders agreed on cooperation in carbon neutrality, realization of a hydrogen society, two-way linkage of AI and semiconductors, fostering bio and health care industries, reinforcement of supply chains, and energy security.

The two sides also agreed to work on helping South Korea gain membership to the CPTPP, comprising 12 countries, including Japan, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, which accounted for 15-point-two percent of world trade as of 2019.