South Korea Removes Japan From Trusted Export List - Reports

Faizan Hashmi Published August 12, 2019 | 06:30 PM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th August, 2019) The government of South Korea excluded Japan from its list of favored trade partners with facilitated export conditions in response to similar measures taken by Japanese authorities in June, local media reported on Monday.

"We need to put an export control system into operation considering the fact that it is hard to work closely with a country that frequently violates basic rules of export controls or that operates an unlawful system," Yonhap news agency cited South Korean Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo as saying.

On July 1, Japan announced it would be limiting the export of three chemical components, namely fluorinated polyimides, photoresist and hydrogen fluoride, to South Korea, dealing a hard blow to the latter's tech industries. On August 2, Japan removed South Korea from its list of trusted trading partners, a move Seoul regarded as a violation of the World Trade Organization's norms.

The export list will be modified to include three categories of trading partners instead of the current two, and Japan will be placed in the new category, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

This new group would be for a country that participates in the four international agreements "but operates an export control system that violates international norms," the ministry said, as cited by Yonhap.

Moreover, Deputy Minister for Trade and Investment Park Tae-sung has assured that while Japan is the only country in this new category, the changes made to the export classifications were not meant to target Tokyo specifically, the news outlet reported.

The new category will officially be added next month, according to the ministry.

Relations between Japan and South Korea soured when the latter's top court ruled earlier this year that a number of Japanese companies could be sued for their use of forced labor during World War II. Tokyo views South Korea's claims as unfounded, recalling that Japan paid $500 million to Seoul in 1965 to establish diplomatic relations and finally close the issue of compensation.