Local councils face hurdles in purchase restriction on Japanese firms

Chungcheongnam-do Council

By Park Ji-won

Provincial councils have been facing complications in passing bills that would restrict them from purchasing and procuring products from Japanese companies categorized as “Japanese war crime firms.”

During a plenary session on Sept. 9, the South Chungcheong Province Council failed to put to vote a measure to prevent the Japanese firms, which were said to have exploited Korean forced laborers and provided military products to imperial Japan's war efforts during its 1910-45 occupation of Korea, from bidding on public contracts in the region.

The Council members failed to narrow differences on a specific definition of “war crime companies” and clear up possible concerns about the expected negative impact on South Korean companies working with those Japanese firms.

The Sejong City Council also postponed a vote on the bill on purchase restrictions against them during its plenary session on Sept. 10 citing an insufficient list of those firms.

Unlike small provincial councils, major city councils including those of Seoul and Busan passed related ordinances in a move to protest Tokyo's recent decision to remove Seoul from its list of trusted trading partners. After Japan imposed its export controls on South Korea, bilateral ties were exacerbated, leading disputes to expand into the security sector as well.

Critics point out it may be too early for those provincial councils to pass the ordinances before fine-tuning their specifics as it was unclear how the ordinances will affect Korean companies and there is a risk of violating international contract laws.

“Officials at the Embassy of Japan, here, are paying visits to the National Assembly to stop the implementation of the measures in preparation for a legal battle in the future, meaning Korea should be more careful about such moves,” a source at the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said. “The possible violation of international law, if such bills are passed, was another top concern as the bilateral ties between Seoul and Tokyo are already vulnerable.”

“As you can see in the case of the Seoul district of Jung-gu, the district office withdrew its plan to put up banners reading 'Boycott Japan' after receiving tons of complaints from Korean citizens to stop the move,” another source said. “It might be not appropriate for the administration to take the initiative on boycotting Japan. The boycott should be citizen-driven.”