China News Service, June 29, according to Korean media reports, on the 29th local time, the World Trade Organization dispute settlement agency will meet to discuss whether an expert group on dispute settlement agencies should be established on Japan's trade restriction measures against South Korea. The final decision is expected to be released at the second meeting in July.
Figure: Korean people boycott Japanese goods.
According to reports, the expert group of the dispute settlement agency to be established by the WTO is composed of three members, and the members are selected through consultation between the parties to the dispute.
The South Korean side expects Japan to reject this request, but according to WTO regulations, after the accused country rejects the application for the establishment of an expert group, unless all member states unanimously reject the application for establishment, it is not allowed to refuse to form an expert group again. Therefore, the final decision is expected to be released at the second meeting in July.
According to previous reports, in July 2019, Japan announced that it would strengthen the control of three types of semiconductor raw materials exported to South Korea and remove South Korea from its export "white list." The Korean side believes that this is in response to the "economic retaliation" imposed by Japan after the South Korean Grand Court issued a judgment on the "forced labor claims". Subsequently, South Korea also moved Japan out of the trade "white list."
In September 2019, the Korean government decided to appeal to the WTO on Japan’s export control to South Korea and requested consultations under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.
Since 2020, South Korea has repeatedly asked Japan to make a statement regarding the lifting of export controls on South Korea, and set May 31 as the deadline. However, the Japanese side finally gave no answer, so the South Korean government decided to restart the dispute settlement procedure on June 2.