China News Network, March 3 Comprehensive report, the Japanese government announced on March 24 that the three semiconductor-related raw materials will be lifted to strengthen export control measures to South Korea. South Korea said it had withdrawn its previous complaint to the WTO over the matter.
Will the trade dispute between Japan and South Korea, which has lasted for several years, come to an end? How many South Koreans "bought it" for Yoon Seok-yue's diplomacy with Japan?
Data map: South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue.
Japan: Unban South Korea: Withdrawal of lawsuit
According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, on March 3, the Japanese government announced that the strengthening of export controls on three semiconductor-related raw materials to South Korea implemented in 23 has been lifted.
The Japanese government has previously argued that South Korea's export control system is inadequate and that controls have been tightened due to security concerns. Now, according to the Japanese side, after recent consultations with the South Korean implementation director, it has been confirmed that the South Korean side has improved.
At the same time, South Korea announced that it had withdrawn its complaint to the WTO on this matter and proceeded to put Japan back on the "white list".
Yonhap News Agency reported that South Korea's industry ministry said the move was aimed at restoring trade between South Korea and Japan to the status quo ante before July 2019. In addition, the amendments include simplifying the procedures for exporting strategic goods to Japan, shortening the time for approval of exports to Japan from 7 days to 15 days, and simplifying the application materials from 5-3 to 5-1 types.
It was previously reported that during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, a large number of laborers were forcibly recruited to work in Japan. For a long time, the Japanese government refused to compensate "forced labor" on the grounds of the 1965 Korea-Japan Claim Agreement. In 2018, South Korea's Grand Court ruled that victims of forced labor have the right to file claims against the Japanese companies involved.
As a result, Japan imposed retaliatory measures against South Korea such as semiconductor material control. In July 2019, Japan restricted exports to South Korea of three key semiconductor materials, high-purity hydrogen fluoride, fluorinated polyimide, and photoresists, and removed South Korea from the "white list" of simplified trade procedures in August of the same year. In September, South Korea filed a complaint with the WTO and removed Japan from the trade "white list."
Data map: On July 2019, 7, local time, due to trade frictions between Japan and South Korea, South Korean people protested in front of the Japanese Embassy.
Han's opposition party criticizes Yoon Seok-yue for "humiliating diplomacy"
Recently, the Yin Xiyue government has launched a series of measures to show favor to the Japanese side.
A few days ago, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue visited Tokyo and agreed to repair relations between the two countries damaged in recent years after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Before his visit to Japan, Yoon Seok-yue also made concessions on the compensation issue of Japan's forced requisition of Korean workers in World War II, and issued a "third-party compensation" plan, that is, Korean enterprises donated to pay compensation for victims of Korean labor forcibly expropriated by Japan.
In response to the Yoon Seok-wook government's move, South Korea's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, has repeatedly raised strong opposition, criticizing the Korea-Japan talks as "humiliating diplomacy" and saying that it will consider advancing national affairs investigations at the parliamentary level. Respondents will include "third-party compensation" schemes, comfort women agreements on the summit table, and restrictions on the import of Fukushima seafood products.
In the past few days, people in South Korea have also frequently held rallies to protest. Participants demanded that Yoon's government withdraw the "third-party compensation" program and that the Japanese government issue a formal apology and legal compensation for "war crimes."
Lee Yong-so, a Korean victim of the Japanese military's "comfort women" system, who participated in the rally, also criticized, "Is it a lie that President Yoon came to Daegu when he was a candidate for the general election to say that he would solve historical problems, and the president promised to solve them no matter what?" ”