TOKYO (AP) — Japan and South Korea have agreed on measures to resolve a trade dispute, one of several disagreements the two countries’ leaders were trying to resolve at a much-anticipated summit on Thursday.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol were meeting in Tokyo in an attempt to address disputes over their history and quickly rebuild their countries’ economic and security ties. A North Korean missile launch and encounters between Chinese and Japanese ships in contested waters earlier that day showed what was at stake.
Seoul and Tokyo have long had disputes over Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945 and atrocities committed during World War II, such as the sexual enslavement of women by Japanese troops, as well as territorial disputes over various islands. . Bilateral relations tanked in 2018 when the South Korean Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to Korean survivors of forced labor, and Japan imposed trade sanctions on South Korea soon after.
The two countries, which have suffered frequent tensions over their shared history, are trying to form a united front with their mutual ally the United States, spurred on by their common concern over belligerent North Korea and a more powerful China. Its summit is held as Northeast Asia is divided into blocs.
South Korean Commerce Minister Lee Chang-yang said that after negotiations this week Japan has agreed to lift export controls on South Korea, which will withdraw its complaint to the World Trade Organization when the restrictions are lifted.
For its part, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry admitted progress on export controls and said Japan would respond to Seoul’s decision to withdraw its WTO complaint by dropping restrictions against South Korea and restoring the situation it had. the country before July 2019.
The countries will continue to talk about restoring its status as preferred trading partner after downgrading in 2019, Lee’s ministry said.
Japan’s export controls affected materials used in semiconductors and for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays used in televisions and cell phones.
Other important issues at the first summit between the two countries since 2011 included how Kishida would respond to Yoon’s concessions on forced labor compensation and whether the two states would resume defense dialogue and regular visits by their leaders.
Kishida and Yoon were scheduled to have dinner and a casual chat after the summit, according to Kishida’s office. Media reports indicated that the prime minister would offer a two-part dinner, with a first course of sukiyaki, a beef stew, and a second course of rice covered in omelette, which according to the media is Yoon’s favourite, at another restaurant.
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Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea contributed to this report.
