The rift between Japan and South Korea has deepened further, with Seoul filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization against Tokyo last month. This has led to a widespread belief within the Japanese government that bilateral talks are now back to square one.
Saturday marked one year since the Japanese government tightened controls on the export of three items to South Korea, including hydrogen fluoride. Talks between the two countries remain stalled.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi expressed his displeasure with South Korea's complaint with the WTO at a press conference on Friday, saying: "We have held a series of dialogues in a bid to resolve this issue. The [filing by South Korea] is very regrettable."
South Korea had filed a complaint against Japan with the WTO in September 2019, but suspended the process that November, seeking to resolve the issue through dialogue.
In December, Japanese and South Korean trade bureau chiefs held a policy dialogue for the first time in 3-1/2 years, discussing Tokyo's tightened controls on exports.
In response to South Korea's reopening of its complaint against Japan at the WTO in June, a Japanese high-ranking official said, "We're right back where we started."
The intensified conflict between Japan and South Korea stems from an issue related to former requisitioned workers from the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean Supreme Court has ordered a Japanese company to pay compensation to former requisitioned workers, but Seoul has yet to present a solution to this matter that Japan can accept.
The tighter export controls were prompted by security concerns of the Japanese government, but Japan also aims to convey to South Korea how seriously it takes the issue related to requisitioned workers.
As the impasse continues, there are concerns regarding the impact on Japanese manufacturers, as South Korea is promoting domestic production of semiconductor-related items.
"We're able to remain competitive now. But in the long run, we don't know [what will happen], so we're constantly anxious," a company executive said.
20% struggle with imports
SEOUL -- About 20% of South Korean companies have experienced difficulties in importing materials and parts from Japan in the past year, according to a survey.
A survey conducted in late June at the behest of the Federation of Korean Industries found that 23.5% of the 149 responding companies had found it difficult to import such items from Japan.
However, South Korean semiconductor manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc., said they had not suffered real damage -- such as the suspension of production at plants -- due to Japan's stricter export control measures, as they had enough inventory to get through the situation.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in's administration has been trying to secure alternative import sources for the materials and parts, and produce them domestically as part of efforts to promote an exit-from-Japan policy.
South Korea imported 8,721,000 dollars worth of resist -- a photosensitizer that is applied to semiconductor substrates -- from Belgium from January to May, or about 18 times the amount in the same period last year, according to Yonhap News Agency,
Products from Belgium increased from 0.4% of South Korea's imports to 5.8% in the same period from the previous year.
It appears to be difficult for South Korea to manufacture some items domestically, observers said.
SK Materials announced on June 17 that it had begun mass production of hydrogen fluoride gas with 99.999% purity, which is used for cleaning semiconductors.
However, the company has to continue relying on Japanese products, as high-performance semiconductors must be cleaned with higher purity gas made in Japan, or there is a risk of errors in signal processing, according to an industry source.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
