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| A protester holds a defaced image of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a rally denouncing the Japanese government's decision on their exports to South Korea in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Wednesday, July 17. AP-Yonhap |
By Kim Yoo-chul, Do Je-hae
Seoul is seeking international support in its intensifying trade war with Japan, calling Tokyo's export curbs a free trade violation and also a threat to the global economy.
"Restricting exports of materials whether it will be chemicals or rare earths is inconsistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) principles," a senior government official said during a press conference in central Seoul for foreign correspondents, Tuesday.
"I don't think I need to remind you of the dire consequences stemming from the stoppage of semiconductor lines. It will adversely affect companies ranging from Apple and Amazon, to Dell and Sony and billions of consumers all over the world," he said. He urged Japan to withdraw its export restrictions immediately.
The senior official also stood by a local Supreme Court ruling on bilateral conflicts dating back to the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule that is being linked to the escalating bilateral trade feud by Seoul.
"The Japanese government responded by restricting the export to Korea of chemical materials, namely hydrogen fluoride, photo resist and fluorinated polyimide, to express its displeasure towards Korea's Supreme Court ruling," the official said. "Korea, as a democratic nation, can't ignore nor discard the Supreme Court ruling that the 1965 agreement didn't cover crimes against humanity and human rights violations against forced laborers."
The press conference came ahead of the July 18 deadline set by the Japanese foreign ministry for Seoul to respond to its request to review the ruling through an outside arbitration panel consisting of the two countries and a third party. Cheong Wa Dae flatly refused the request Tuesday.
In October 2018, the nation's highest court acknowledged the individuals' right to seek reparations for damages sustained during the Japanese occupation despite a 1965 bilateral accord which Japan sees as the basis for settling all colonial reparations permanently. The Moon administration's position has been that due to its strict adherence to the separation of powers, it does not have a say in the judiciary's decision.
While calling on Tokyo to resolve the trade spat diplomatically, President Moon Jae-in has made it clear that the proposal for an outside arbitration on the judiciary's decision cannot be an option.
The presidential office confirmed that entering arbitration procedures on a historical dispute is not being considered as it was not something the victims would be willing to accept. "The most important factor is whether the victims and the people are open to it," a senior presidential aide told reporters during a briefing, Wednesday. Another top presidential aide said a day earlier that the government will not issue a separate stance on the request ahead of the July 18 deadline, saying no was the final answer.
The stern response came amid calls for Seoul to take a more flexible approach by considering the Japanese request in light of the need to urgently assuage the bilateral trade row ahead of additional economic restrictions against Korea later this month.
Following Moon's refusal of the request, concerns are rising that Seoul is left with few diplomatic options as the two sides are not moving from their respective positions.
Moon has publicly slammed Japan on a number of public occasions since Tokyo announced tightened export controls on July 4. On Monday, he warned Japan from going further down its current path, saying the export curbs will only end up hurting Japan more in the long run given the close interdependence of the two economies.
The South Korean leader also pointed out the false claims by Tokyo that some strategic materials exported to Korea were being diverted to North Korea.
Tokyo hit back at Moon's hardline messages and refuted Seoul's view that the export curbs were in retaliation to historical disputes. In an interview with a local daily Wednesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said that the export restrictions were not at all in response to the court ruling on wartime forced labor and that his government's actions against Seoul were not in violation of the WTO rules.
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