Moon Administration Delays Trade Retaliation After Japan Approves Chemical Shipment to South Korea

It looks like the Moon administration is taking a strategic pause to assess what Japan’s intentions are after the recent approval of a chemical shipment to South Korea:

South Korea on Thursday held off its decision to drop Japan from its list of trusted trading partners as the neighboring country approved the first shipment of a key material under restriction to South Korea, in what appears be a pause in their mounting trade tussle.

In its countermeasure against Japan’s removal of South Korea from its so-called whitelist, the Seoul government has threatened to take Japan off its own list, upping the ante in the month-long trade haggling caused by Tokyo’s export curbs on three key industrial materials crucial for the production of chips and display panels.

South Korea said last week that it will create a new category in its export controls and put Japan in the lower-tier category.

Yonhap

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