Korea

South Korea has challenged export restrictions imposed on Seoul by Japan at the World Trade Organization, escalating an ongoing trade tension between two major U.S. trading partners while the U.S. largely sticks to the sidelines.

South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho was set to meet with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell and Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth Keith Krach.

A U.S. official on Wednesday called for Japan and Korea to do some “soul searching” amid flaring tensions between the two countries, while Japan on Thursday approved its first export licenses for chemicals used in tech products headed to South Korea after imposing export restrictions last week.

The request will be heard at a special DSB meeting on Aug. 9.
 

“Japan’s trade-restrictive measures could not only hurt Korean enterprises but also disrupt the global supply chain.”

The company says the “current safeguard remedy is imposing a cost of approximately $1.5 billion each year on consumers.”

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-ching and representatives from a major Korean auto group are in Washington, DC, this week for meetings with U.S. lawmakers and government officials to reiterate Seoul's opposition to the Section 232 auto probe.

South Korea should be prepared to challenge national security-based import restrictions on Korean autos and auto parts at the World Trade Organization and elsewhere because such duties are “not logical,” a former senior Korean trade official said on Wednesday.

“The main compliment of the KORUS FTA was on the automobile sector. And to be frank, we don’t think it makes much sense if it applies to Korea because we accommodated most of the demands on the U.S. side on automobiles.”