Advertisement
Japan vows to axe South Korea from smooth-trade list, as row deepens
- Tokyo plans to remove Seoul from a white list of countries that face minimum trade restrictions
- South Korea has warned that such a move is ‘against international norms’ and would undermine their decades-old economic and security cooperation and threaten free trade
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
South Korea on Wednesday protested against Japan’s plan to remove it from a list of countries that face minimum trade restrictions, saying it would undermine their decades-old economic and security cooperation and threaten free trade.
Japan’s planned revision of a law to take South Korea off its so-called white list comes amid a deepening row over compensation for wartime forced labour, and after Japan tightened curbs this month on exports to South Korea of hi-tech materials used for making memory chips and display panels.
South Korea’s industry ministry said in a statement that Japan’s removal of South Korea from the list would undermine their economic and security partnership.
Advertisement
It asked Japan to scrap the plan, flagging concerns over wider disruptions of global supply chains involving South Korean chip and screen makers.
“It is a very grave matter that shakes the foundation of South Korea-Japan economic partnership and Northeast Asian security cooperation that has been maintained and developed for more than 60 years,” Sung Yoon-mo, the South Korean industry minister, told a briefing.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x