Seoul raises Japan’s export restriction move at WTO

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - South Korea has complained to World Trade Organization (WTO) that Japan has restricted export of critical items for its booming smartphone and TV industry.

Seoul-based ChosunIlbo daily said that South Korean officials raised an “urgent complaint” about Japan's export restrictions on materials at a WTO meeting in Geneva on Tuesday.

Last week, Japan slowed down export of three core materials for semiconductors, smartphones and TVs to South Korea. Tokyo enjoys monopoly on production of these critical materials.

The move is seen as retaliation by Tokyo against the rulings of a South Korean court that ordered Japanese firms to pay compensation to wartime forced labor victims.

Tokyo has asked Seoul to set up an arbitration panel from a third country by July 18.

However, South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday asked Japan to stop heading toward a "dead end" terming its move as "politically motivated".

"I hope it will no longer go toward a dead end," he added.

Several Japanese officials had alleged that South Korean-made products found their way to North Korea.

Seoul rejected the “groundless” claims. "We are arranging bilateral talks in Tokyo on Friday," South Korean Trade Minister Sung Yun-mo said.