Japan has canceled its measure to exclude South Korea from the list of preferential export countries (white list) and has begun the procedure to re-designate South Korea as a preferential country.
On the 28th, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced, "From the perspective of properly implementing export control based on the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, we will start collecting opinions on the draft ordinance to partially revise the Export Trade Control Order to add South Korea to the list of third countries in the Export Trade Control Order."
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry stated that from the 10th to the 25th, it held a Korea-Japan export control policy dialogue with South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and "after a strict verification of South Korea's export control system, institutions, operational status, and their effectiveness, it was judged to be effective."
It added, "We will continue dialogue on the export control systems and overall operations between the two countries and plan to take appropriate measures."
With this re-designation, all export regulations targeting South Korea that have been in place since 2019 will be lifted.
In 2019, when relations with South Korea deteriorated over the issue of compensation for forced labor victims, Japan tightened export controls on three items essential for semiconductor manufacturing, including hydrogen fluoride. Japan also excluded South Korea from the white list, continuing its "retaliation." In response, the South Korean government filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that Japan's measures were unfair.
In early last month, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration proposed concessions on the forced labor compensation issue, stating the need to improve Korea-Japan relations. It also withdrew the WTO complaint. Subsequently, Japan lifted export restrictions on semiconductor-related items.
The South Korean government welcomed these measures. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated in a press release that "we welcome Japan's initiation of the ordinance revision opinion collection process and hope that the related procedures will be completed promptly."
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