The Korea Enterprises Federation said that its chairman, Sohn Kyung-shik, met with the president of the Heritage Foundation in Washington on Wednesday, stressing the need for a similar nongovernmental think tank in Korea as well.

Founded in 1973, the Heritage Foundation is a nonprofit conservative think tank with a mission to formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong national defense.

“We are seeing growing uncertainties in the business environment such as rising energy prices and the international community’s sanctions on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine,” Sohn was quoted as saying by the KEF during his meeting with Kevin Roberts, president of the US think tank.

“If South Korea and the US cooperate to stabilize international supply chains and expand mutual investment and personnel exchanges based on our strong alliance and the bilateral free trade agreement, we could strengthen economic cooperation in new areas such as digital transformation and climate control.”

Sohn also said that with the new administration set to launch in May, Korean businesses were expecting to see a better environment to do business as well as labor relations reforms, adding that the values pursued by the Heritage Foundation were similar to the principles of the incoming government in Korea.

Sohn is also scheduled to meet with Peter Robinson, president of the US Council for International Business, during his US visit to discuss ways to support Korean companies and bolster Korea-US economic cooperation, the KEF said.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)