According to Reuters, tighter export controls, which will become effective on Thursday, will slow the export process by several months, hitting South Korean tech giants, such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and LG Display.
The move by the authorities in Japan comes in response to their growing frustration at what they are calling 'a lack of action' by Seoul over issues stemming from its top court ruling last October that ordered Nippon Steel to compensate former forced laborers.
South Korea’s industry minister said the government planned to lodge a complaint to the World Trade Organization over Japan’s “retaliatory” action.
Japan rejected South Korea’s proposal last month to create a joint compensation fund for victims with contributions from both nations’ companies.
“South Korea has failed to show any satisfactory measures to resolve the forced labor issue ... and severely damaged mutual trust,” said an official of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. “As trust has been lost, we cannot have a dialogue and are unable to ensure that proper export controls are being taken."
South Korean trade official says Japan's export curbs violate WTO rules.
The issue of forced labour dates back to the Japanese colonisation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945, including forced use of labour by Japanese companies. Japan, says the issue of forced labor was fully settled in 1965 when the two countries restored diplomatic ties, and has denounced the rulings and urged the launch of an arbitration panel.
The materials to be restricted are fluorinated polyimides, used in smartphone displays, as well as resist and hydrogen fluoride (HF), which is used as an etching gas to make semiconductors.
