OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee will lead a nine-day trade mission to South Korea and Japan, plugging the state's farm, aerospace and tech products.

Accompanying Inslee will be some 60 officials from business, education and local governments. He'll address a technology conference and meet with aerospace suppliers in South Korea. In Japan he'll visit the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution in Kobe to learn how the state can prepare for a major earthquake and its aftermath, and visit the Mitsubishi Regional Jet assembly line in Nagoya. Mitsubishi recently opened an engineering center in Seattle and will test its regional jet in Moses Lake starting next year.

He'll also hit Costco in Tokyo,  not to stock up on snacks for the trip home but to attend a fair for Washington food and wine. 

Export figures show Japan is currently the third largest buyer of Washington products, with $7.4 billion in exports last year. South Korea was sixth, with $2.8 billion.

Inslee will also visit sister state's in each country, Jeollabuk-do Province in South Korea and Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. 

The governor's travel is covered by the Host Fund of Washington, a non-profit organization set up by the Trade Development Alliance in Seattle with member donations. Delegates on the mission pay their own way and expenses for most other state employees on the trip are covered by the budgets in their respective departments. 

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