Japan Says It Still Plans to Remove South Korea From Export List
Japan Says It Still Plans to Remove South Korea From Export List
(Bloomberg) --
Japan plans to press ahead with its plan to remove South Korea from a list of trusted export destinations, rebuffing a public effort by the U.S. to calm rising tensions between its two key East Asian allies.
“This is a change in the management of exports that’s necessary for national security,” government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday. “There’s no change in policy and we will calmly proceed with the formalities.”
No date has been announced for the decision on the so-called “white list.” Removal would mean South Korean companies face more cumbersome procedures for importing a wide range of Japanese goods, potentially disrupting manufacturing beyond the region.
Suga’s comments came hours after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he would meet with the foreign ministers of both countries as they attend Asean meetings in Bangkok this week and encourage them to seek a solution.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha are also set to meet separately on the sidelines of Asean, Kang’s ministry said.
Japan’s export control changes, first announced July 1, come amid a resurgence of simmering resentment over whether it has sufficiently compensated victims of its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. The deterioration in ties threatens to undermine the ability of the two countries to work together to deal with common threats such as North Korea.
Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko also told reporters that Japan would press ahead with the export control plans. Domestic media have said the cabinet will approve the decision Aug. 2, allowing it to come into force later in the month.
--With assistance from Emi Nobuhiro.
To contact the reporters on this story: Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.net;Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Karen Leigh
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