The South Korean government asked the Japanese government for its specific position on resolving bilateral trade issues by the end of this month. Trade issues emerged after Japan enforced tighter export regulations on three materials used to produce semiconductors and excluded South Korea from the list of “white countries” enjoying a faster export process. Lee Ho-hyeon, an official overseeing trade policies at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a press briefing at the government office in Sejong on the afternoon of May 12 and said, “It has been nearly a year since Japan announced tighter export control, and we cannot put off resolving this issue any longer,” as he shared the government’s message to Japan.

On July 1, 2019, Japan strengthened export regulations on South Korea and excluded South Korea from a “white list,” a list of countries allowed a speedy export process for strategic materials. The two countries resumed director-level policy talks to resolve the issue on November 22, 2019, and the dispute resolution process at the World Trade Organization (WTO) was temporarily suspended.

The government stated that it has improved all the issues that Japan cited as the grounds for the tighter export regulations on South Korea at the time. The catch-all control of conventional weapons is in working order and runs effectively, but the government revised the Foreign Trade Act on March 18 to state its legal grounds more clearly. The amendment will go into effect on June 19.

The government strengthened the organization and human resources in charge of export management by changing the existing department level organization (department of trade security) in the trade ministry to a bureau level organization led by the director general of trade security as of May 6. As for the three export items subject to tighter export regulations--Japanese companies must now seek permission for each shipment of these three chemicals, since they are no longer eligible for a general permission--a sound export record has been accumulated during the past ten months, and there have been no problems in exporting the chemicals to South Korea.

Lee said, “We have fulfilled all necessary and sufficient conditions for the Japanese government to resolve the issue,” and pointed out, “Japan has no reason to hesitate in restoring export controls to the previous state.” Lee also said, “Both South Korea and Japan are facing difficult times due to COVID-19 and there are many areas that require cooperation,” and added, “We hope to quickly resolve issues in export management and head in the direction of development.”

Meanwhile, when the Korean press asked about the issue, an official at the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry answered, “As we have said, we will frequently evaluate our export controls to manage our exports appropriately” and added, “There is nothing further.”