Japan puts Korea back on trade 'white list'

Industry

Published: 27 Jun. 2023, 13:13 Updated: 27 Jun. 2023, 17:33

Japan puts Korea back on trade 'white list'

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands before their bilateral summit on the sidelines of the Group of 7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Japan put Korea back on its "white list" of trusted trading partners on Tuesday, nearly four years after the initial exclusion, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.

The countries on the list receive preferential treatment when importing commodities and technologies from Japan.

The reinstatement will take effect from July 21.

Korea, which had also removed Japan from its list in 2019, restored Japan's white list status on April 24.

The reinstatement decision was delayed on Japan’s part because of “administrative procedures involving the cabinet,” the Korean ministry said in April.

With Japan’s latest restoration of the white list status, all the restrictive measures imposed on trading between Korea and Japan since 2019 have been lifted.

Korea-Japan relations, which had been strained by disputes stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial occupation of the peninsula, have been quickly thawing following the summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in March.

The summit marked the first visit from a Korean president to Japan for a bilateral meeting in 12 years, which was followed by Kishida’s state visit to Seoul in May.

In late 2018, the Korean Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to individually compensate the victims of forced labor during World War II.

In a move widely seen as retaliation for the forced labor rulings, Japan imposed export restrictions on three key materials essential to Korea's semiconductor and display production in 2019. Tokyo also removed Korea from its white list of trusted trading partners, a move returned by Seoul.

In March, the Yoon government announced a plan to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor through a Korea-backed public foundation, without set contributions from Japanese companies, a move protested by some victims and civic groups.

Yoon then undertook a bilateral visit to Tokyo, during which the South Korean president said that it is in both countries' national interests to normalize relations to better respond to security issues, including North Korea.

Ahead of the summit in March, Japan removed its export curbs on key semiconductor materials to Korea, while Korea simultaneously withdrew its complaint filed with the World Trade Organization against Japan for its restrictions.

"After the president's visit to Japan in March that established a foundation for the restoration of trust between the two countries, Korea preemptively restored Japan's white list status while the industry ministries of Korea and Japan held policy discussions, which resulted in a complete recovery of trust in trading relations," said the Industry Ministry.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]