Japan Imposes Tighter Export Controls for S. Korea

Tokyo, July 4 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government implemented tighter controls on exports of semiconductor materials to South Korea on Thursday, raising fears of a tit-for-tat battle between the two East Asian neighbors. The move reflects Tokyo's frustration with Seoul's tepid response to its request to come up with a satisfactory solution to the issue of wartime labor. "Demonstrating Japan's resolve to take action when necessary falls within common behavior in international relations," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on television Wednesday night. To add further pressure on Seoul, the Abe administration plans to remove South Korea from the list of "white countries" for simplified export control procedures as early as August. Seoul has threatened to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the Japanese move, which Tokyo believes is likely to be covered by the exemption of national security-linked measures from WTO rules. The tighter controls on exports of hydrogen fluoride and resist, as well as fluorinated polyimide, used in smartphones, are seen hitting the South Korean electronics industry as Japanese companies hold dominant positions in global markets for the three items. Exporters will now be obliged to apply for a separate license for each shipment of the materials to South Korea, instead of bulk licenses for the items as before. "We just end special preferential treatment and bring back the normal procedures," Abe said. Announcing the move against South Korea on Monday, the industry ministry noted that the Japan-South Korea "relationship of trust including in the field of export control and regulation has been significantly undermined." The bilateral relationship is strained over a series of recent South Korean Supreme Court rulings ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation to former South Korean wartime laborers. The Japanese government takes the position that the wartime labor issue was resolved by a 1965 bilateral agreement. At a press conference on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga mentioned "a series negative moves" by the South Korean side, while denying that the tighter export controls are a retaliatory measure. END