Mayors from Woodstock, Ingersoll, Stratford and St. Thomas are among officials leaving today for an overseas trade mission. They'll be visiting Japan and South Korea over the next two weeks to possibly drum up some new business and industry for the region. Mayor Pat Sobeski says for Woodstock, it's also about strengthening our current ties. "In many ways, it's a retention visit. When we're in Japan we'll be visiting with a number of companies that have made a significant investment in Woodstock. We not only have Toyota, but Toyota Boshoku, Toyota Tsusho, HINO, VuTeq...so in many ways it's a retention visit." As mentioned, Sobeski and Economic Development Commissioner Len Magyar will be in South Korea for the first time. But Sobeski says the city already has a connection in place. "South Korea is important, because locally, Timberland signed a major contract with Hyundai shipping. So we have a contact over there, but really it's to go over and find out how to best market ourselves." The visit comes as Canada is in the midst of a free trade deal with the country that is home to major corporations like Hyundai, LG, and Samsung. More on the trip, who's going, and what they'll be doing in our full-length interview with Sobeski below:

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