Abe's nationalist ambition
By Park Yoon-bae
By Park Yoon-bae
The escalating trade row between South Korea and Japan shows Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks more like U.S. President Donald Trump. It is really dismaying to see Abe emulating Trump in damaging the spirit of free trade and fair competition.
The nationalist Japanese leader has pulled the trigger on a trade war with Korea just as Trump did with China.
Trump's aim is to protect U.S. manufacturers from the influx of cheap Chinese imports and bring American jobs back. His trade protectionism is based on his “America first” agenda. He wants to “make America great again” by initiating a trade war with China.
Trump has also sought to block China from catching up with the U.S. in advanced technologies. He has launched a campaign against China's telecom equipment giant Huawei under the name of national security, to prevent its expansion in 5G mobile networks. Thus the Sino-American trade war has turned into a technology war.
In a similar vein, Abe's trade war against Korea is based on his Japan-centric attitude which can be seen as “Japan first.” He has chosen economic retaliation over friendship and partnership as far as Korea is concerned.
Japan first cited “damaged trust” with Korea as the reason for its export restrictions on three high-tech materials, implying the measures are in response to the Korean Supreme Court's ruling that ordered Japanese firms to compensate surviving Korean victims of forced labor during World War II.
Then the Abe government came up with another reason: national security. It raised an allegation that South Korea might have violated international sanctions against North Korea by failing to block the transfer of strategic materials such as hydrogen fluoride to the North.
But Tokyo has changed its position after it invited strong criticism for overtly using trade as a political weapon. Now Japanese officials are arguing that the export curbs are part of a change in their country's export control procedures, denying the measures have anything to do with the forced labor issue.
Such a change of stance reveals that Japan cannot find a sufficient reason for its trade action. The more it tries to legitimize its unilateral and irrational action, the more difficult it becomes to give credence to its move.
No one can deny that the Japanese export limits are in apparent retaliation to the compensation ruling for forced labor victims. Such retaliation is in blatant violation of free trade rules. That's why the Moon Jae-in administration has taken the case to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
It is worth noting a recent New York Times article titled “Japan Cites 'National Security' in Free Trade Crackdown. Sound Familiar?” The report said, “To some, Mr. Abe's move seemed to take a page from Mr. Trump's playbook, turning trade into a cudgel.
Abe might have found it almost, if not totally, impossible to weaponize trade if it had not been for Trump who imposed punitive tariffs on foreign-made steel, aluminum and cars citing national security reasons. Abe seemed to have taken a cue from Trump who is notorious for his disdain for global trade rules.
Yet Abe should realize that it is absurd to punish another country with trade measures over historical or political issues. Much to the dismay of South Koreans, he has just tried to put all the blame on Seoul.
He has become more arrogant and unabashed since his ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party won the upper house election Sunday, although it failed to garner a two-thirds majority critical for the revision of the postwar peace constitution.
Despite the failure, Abe showed no signs of giving up his long-held nationalist ambition of amending the war-renouncing Article 9 of the constitution to turn Japan into a “normal country” that can wage war against other countries.
There are growing worries among South Koreans and other Asian peoples that Abe may step up his efforts to tilt Japan further to the right and revive the country's imperialism and militarism. He apparently wants to erase Japan's shameful history and deny its wartime atrocities such as sex slavery and forced labor.
In this context, Abe's trade war could be a political gambit for Japan to reclaim its dominance over the Korean Peninsula. He appears to seek to change bilateral ties by removing Korea from the list of 27 countries entitled to preferential trade treatment. The removal may mean Tokyo no longer regards Seoul as its ally.
Abe's weaponization of trade is a direct challenge to the global trade order as well as peace and stability in Northeast Asia and beyond. Abe should stop economic retaliation against Seoul immediately and solve the problem through dialogue. He should not dare to become a Trumpian leader in Japan.
The author is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times. Contact him at byb@koreatimes.co.kr.