Korea puts Japan back on export whitelist after three years

[Photo by MK DB]

South Korea has reinstated Japan to its whitelist of preferential trading partners, three years after it was removed due to worsening relations between the two countries.

Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Monday that it issued a revision to its public notice on exports and imports of strategic items earlier in the day that calls for restoring Japan’s fast-track trade status. As a result, Japan will join 28 other countries that enjoy preferential treatment in export approval procedures by Korea, such as a significant cut in the review period and reduced paperwork.

The measure was taken as part of efforts to normalize bilateral relationship agreed during a bilateral summit in March after years-long trade conflicts between Seoul and Tokyo. In 2019, Japan imposed export curbs on three key materials for the production of semiconductors and displays in an apparent retaliation against Korea’s Supreme Court ruling in 2018 that ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to Korean wartime forced labor victims.

In response, Korea filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the Japanese move later that year. Japan responded by removing Korea from its trade whitelist that year, prompting Seoul to take the same step in a tit-for-tat move.

Following the March summit, Japan lifted its export curbs while Korea withdrew its WTO complaint against Japan. Tokyo has yet to place Korea back on its trade whitelist. Given that the two countries have been holding director-general-level talks since the summit to discuss the issue, Japan is expected to soon take similar action.

Under the revised public notice, Korea also announced a decision to tighten export controls on major strategic items against Russia and Belarus in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which will take effect Friday.

The government added 741 more items related to semiconductors, chemicals, steel, autos, machinery, quantum computers and other things to the list of items that are banned to the two countries, significantly raising the total number of items on the list to 798 from 57, according to the industry ministry.

The move was taken to cooperate with the international community’s efforts to expand export controls of items that could be used for weapons and military purposes by the two countries. Korea also reflected recent adjustments of the four major international export control regimes, including the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the ministry said, adding that it will make a case-by-case review for “exceptional cases” for shipments to Russia and Belarus.

“We plan to strengthen crackdowns and enforcement through close cooperation with related ministries to prevent these items from flowing into Russia and Belarus through third countries,” said a ministry official.