South Korea has warned the US of the potential damage from “undesirable” Japanese restrictions on exports of high-tech material to South Korea, as a trade row between the two nations intensifies.
As South Korea sought US help in the dispute, triggered by a disagreement over the issue of compensation for South Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms during World War II, it also took steps to limit the damage to its companies.
South Korea announced that up to 300 billion won (US$255.6 million) would be included in a supplementary budget to cope with Japan’s curbs on exports of three materials crucial for advanced consumer electronics by speeding supply localization.
Photo: Reuters
The Democratic Party said about one-third of the proposed budget would be for supporting South Korean materials and equipment makers to help them get their products to market.
S&P Global Rating Asia-Pacific chief economist Shaun Roache said the dispute is as unpredictable as the US-China trade dispute and is likely to affect South Korea’s growth.
The Japanese restrictions are to affect companies such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc, which supply chips to companies such as Apple Inc.
South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha late on Wednesday told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a telephone call that Japan’s restrictions might not only damage South Korean companies, but could also disrupt the global supply chain and hurt US firms.
Kang “expressed concern that this is undesirable in terms of friendly relations between South Korea and Japan, and trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan,” the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
South Korea hoped Japan would withdraw the curbs and that the situation would not deteriorate further, it said.
Pompeo said he understood and they agreed to strengthen communication between the three sides, it said.
However, analysts say the US is unlikely to become a mediator.
South Korea and Japan also clashed at the WTO this week.
South Korean National Security Office Deputy Director Kim Hyun-chong arrived in Washington on Wednesday and told reporters he would meet officials from the White House and US Congress to discuss issues that included Japan’s export curbs.
Meanwhile, New US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell arrived in Japan on the first stop of a 10-day visit to Asia.
He is also scheduled to visit South Korea next week, but did not mention the dispute when he spoke to reporters.
He did say that he was looking forward to talking with Japanese officials about subjects including Iran and North Korea.
“I look forward to some interaction with senior Japanese officials, understanding where we sit today in the free and open Indo-Pacific strategy, as well as discussing topics like Iran and North Korea,” Stilwell told reporters after arriving at Narita International Airport near Tokyo.
Stilwell’s post had been vacant for more than two years, despite major challenges in the region.
He is scheduled to meet senior Japanese diplomatic and defense officials until Sunday, before traveling to the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand.
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
RSS