Japan ends gathering of opinions on removal of South Korea from “White” list

July 25, 2019

Tokyo--The period of the Japanese government soliciting public comments on its plan to remove South Korea from the so-called white list of trusted trading partners qualified for simplified export procedures ended on Wednesday.

The Japanese government is expected to decide to take the step at a cabinet meeting after examining the opinions. The second-round tightening of exports to the neighboring country would come into force next month.

Over 10,000 comments collected include a statement by the South Korean government calling for scrapping the plan.

On July 4, the Japanese government made stricter its screening of applications for exports of three types of semiconductor materials to South Korea on the grounds that some exported materials had been handled inappropriately in the country. The Japanese move came amid deteriorating bilateral relations due to wartime labor and other issues.

In its position statement, Seoul maintained that South Korea strictly manages exports in order to prevent the materials from being used for making not only weapons of mass destruction but conventional arms in third countries.

Meanwhile, Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko has told reporters that Tokyo has yet to receive Seoul's explanation about how legally South Korea is blocking the cutting-edge products from being exported for the purpose of making weapons.

If South Korea actually loses the white country status, Japanese companies will be required on an individual trade deal basis to apply for trade ministry approval for exports to the country of products capable of being used for weapons of mass destruction.

Chances cannot be ruled out that the burdensome individual deal-based export procedures will also be applied for wide-ranging products with military potential, including communications devices, pundits said.

Japan Foreign Trade Council Chairman Kuniharu Nakamura, also chairman of Sumitomo Corp. <8053>, told a press conference on Wednesday, "We'll calmly respond so that trade, investment and human exchanges between the two countries will not be affected." Jiji Press