South Korea yesterday warned Japan that it would be forced to review security cooperation between the two key US allies if Tokyo pushes ahead with plans to remove Seoul from its “white list” of trusted trade partners.
The squabble between the neighbors follows a decades-long quarrel over Japanese forced labor during World War II.
Japan last month unveiled tough restrictions on exports of chemicals vital to Seoul’s world-leading chip and smartphone industries.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Yonhap
Tokyo has also said that it would remove South Korea from its preferential trade status list as early as yesterday, a move that could affect hundreds of key items imported to the South and punch a hole in its economy.
South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha yesterday met Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono on the sidelines of an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Bangkok and urged Tokyo to walk back the move.
“I made clear the grave consequences it would have on our bilateral relations if the measure was imposed,” she told reporters.
Kang warned that the renewal of a military intelligence-sharing agreement between the countries could be jeopardized by any “white list” removal.
“I said that the security cooperation framework between South Korea and Japan may be affected,” she added.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday said that his side intended to press ahead with the move.
“This policy remains unchanged and we will calmly proceed with the formalities,” he told reporters.
Seoul and Tokyo are Washington’s key security allies in the region and critical in any future deal on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is also in Bangkok attending the summit, has pledged to mediate between the two countries when he meets their diplomats today.
“We will encourage them to find a path forward,” he said ahead of his trip.
Pompeo is trialing Washington’s rebooted Asia security strategy in Bangkok.
He yesterday insisted that Washington was not asking Southeast Asian nations to “choose” between his country and rival power China.
The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a bitter trade war between the superpowers and open access to contested seas dominated talks between Pompeo and Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi (王毅).
Both later played down the rifts between their nations, with Wang describing the meeting as a “deep communication” that “has helped to increase our mutual understanding.”
Pompeo said on Twitter that he had “an in-depth exchange of views” with Wang, including on North Korea, adding that “when it advances U.S. interests, we are ready to cooperate with China.”
Pompeo also insisted that the US was not prodding Southeast Asian nations to “choose between countries.”
“Our engagement in this region has not been and will not be a zero-sum exercise,” he said in short remarks at the opening of the ASEAN meeting. “Our interests simply naturally converge with yours to our mutual benefit.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique