South Korea seeks US intervention to heal deepening rift with Japan over hi-tech export restrictions

Seoul has warned the dispute could have negative consequences for the South Korea-US-Japan trilateral alliance

Stand-off has been exacerbated by suggestions in Japan that South Korea failed to prevent exports of dangerous material to North Korea

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South Korean students protest near the Japanese embassy in Seoul after Japanese officials questioned the credibility of Seoul’s sanctions against North Korea while justifying Tokyo’s stricter controls on hi-tech exports to South Korea. Photo: AP

Published: 3:12pm, 11 Jul 2019Updated: 9:31pm, 11 Jul 2019

South Korea has intensified diplomatic efforts to involve the US in its bitter dispute with Japan, holding high-level meetings in Washington and warning of the negative impact on global trade if the stand-off is not resolved.

Foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by phone and conveyed South Korea’s concerns over Japan’s “undesirable” export restrictions affecting hi-tech materials, the foreign ministry said.

“Minister Kang said Japan’s trade restrictions could not only damage South Korean companies but also bring about negative impacts on the world trade order as well as US firms by disturbing global supply chains,” Kang told Pompeo, according to the ministry. “This is undesirable for not only South Korea-Japan bilateral ties but South Korea-US-Japan trilateral cooperations as well.”

South Korea is the world’s biggest manufacturer of computer chips and displays but Tokyo last week tightened the approval process for Japanese shipments of hi-tech materials used by South Korean companies such as Samsung and SK Hynix.

Seoul regards the restrictions as politically motivated retaliation for court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate South Korean victims of wartime forced labour under Japanese occupation. Tokyo denies this charge but the restrictions have nonetheless provoked boycotts of Japanese products in South Korea and a deepening diplomatic rift.

On Thursday, South Korea’s ruling party confirmed 300 billion won (US$254.8 million) would be included in a supplementary budget bill to help companies adapt to Japan’s export curbs.

Seoul has also dispatched senior government officials to Washington to solicit US intervention. Kim Hyun-chong, President Moon Jae-in’s top security aide, arrived in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the escalating row. Kim Hee-sang, a senior foreign ministry aide, will also meet US state department officials.