Aug 29, 2019 (Nikkei) - Seoul said Wednesday it will file a World Trade Organization complaint against Japan, hours after Tokyo formally imposed additional trade restrictions on South Korea.
"We will present a case before the WTO without delay," South Korean Prime Minister Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon said at a cabinet meeting concerning Japan's trade curbs.
Lee also laid out a plan to invest 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) over three years into the domestic production of materials and manufacturing equipment that are chiefly imported from Japan.
Japan and South Korea have been embroiled in a dispute that has cast a cloud over the relationship between East Asia's second- and third-largest economies, and a pathway to a resolution remains elusive. The feud, triggered over a wartime labor issue, intensified last week, when South Korea withdrew from an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan.
At midnight Wednesday, Japan enforced the decision to remove South Korea from a whitelist of nations, so-called Group A countries, that are able to import Japanese goods without added procedures. This follows strictures on semiconductor material exports Japan put into force in July.
South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon laid out a plan to invest $4.1 billion over three years into the domestic production to counteract trade curbs from Japan. © Kyodo South Korea was demoted to Group B status, in which all exports except for timber and food are subject to case-by-case screenings to prevent military use.
However, the controls are not expected to be exercised immediately, and the screenings will target shipments that raise suspicion. Mitsubishi Corp., the Japanese trading house, believes the effect of the export controls will be limited.
