Japan accused of breaching principles of free world trade
By Mohssen Arishie
In one of the worst trade and diplomatic disputes in recent decades between the two neighbours, South Korea is accusing Japan of breaching the principles of free world trade. According to the rumblings of this dispute within the corridors of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Japan allegedly fired the first bullet when it tightly restricted the exports of photoresists and other sensitive materials indispensable for manufacturing semiconductors and display screens by South Korean giants, such as Samsung and LG. Dismissing these restrictions as outrageous and hostile, Seoul is warning that they could hurt its export-dependent economy and disrupt global supply chains.
However, according to observers close to the two warring camps, the escalating dispute could be settled profitably for the two warring parties only if U.S. President Donald Trump fulfilled his promise to intervene and help ease tensions, which threatens global supplies of memory chips and smartphones.
Japan came with what has been described as a blow to South Korean economy after the supreme court in Seoul ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to South Koreans forced to work in Japanese factories during Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Japan maintains the issue of reparations was resolved under a 1965 agreement that normalized diplomatic relations between the two nations. The trade war between the two U.S. allies reveals that the tragic memory of the Japanese occupation of Korean peninsula has been heavily weighing on the minds of Korean people.
The dispute took more serious dimensions when South Korean President Moon Jae-in accused Japan of abusing its leverage in trade to punish his country over their historical dispute. South Korea sees the trade curbs as retaliation for South Korean court rulings over wartime forced labour. Warning of retaliatory actions by his government, Moon said that Japan would be the biggest loser if it did not back off.
Denying Seoul’s accusations, Tokyo claimed that the implementation of stricter export requirements was based on national security concerns, following “some cases of inappropriate export” to South Korea. The Japanese government also said that the restrictions came as a result of an erosion of trust with South Korea. Seoul has dismissed these accusations as ridiculous, baseless and cynically fabricated.
Seoul has decided to engage WTO in this raging row after Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko stated that his government would not reverse the course of its action. The Japanese minister also dismissed the possibility of holding bilateral talks with South Korean officials to settle the boiling row.
South Korea’s Deputy Trade Minister Kim Seung-ho said in a press statement that the issue was not by any means a security measures as the Japanese claimed. “It’s not at all a trade measure,
it’s not at all a security measure, it’s purely strategically planned to gain the upper hand in the diplomatic rows, I mean the forced labor issues,” Kim told reporters.
Kim accused the Japanese government of adopting an evasive attitude after director-general of economic affairs at its Foreign Ministry, Shingo Yamagami, refused to have a face-t-face meeting to elaborately explore a settlement of this dispute.
“That clearly shows that Japan has not confidence or even courage to face what Japan has done,” Kim said. “This evasive attitude shows that Japan tries to close its eyes to what it has done and Japan tries to close its ears to… Japanese actions’ victims.” The South Korean official also said that Japan risked causing disruption to the world economy and undermining the WTO.