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Na Seung-sik, deputy minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Office of Trade and Investment, holds a press conference regarding South Korea’s stance on Japan’s export controls at the Government Complex Sejong on June 2. (provided by MOTIE)

The South Korean government plans to resume complaint procedures with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the stringent export controls adopted by Japan.

In a press conference on June 2, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said it had decided to resume WTO dispute settlement procedures concerning Japan’s export controls on three key semiconductor materials. On May 12, MOTIE informed Japan that all three of the grounds it had cited in intensifying its export controls had been resolved and demanded that it “state a concrete position by the end of May.”

“We did get a response from Japan, but it wasn’t the one we were anticipating,” explained Na Seung-sik, deputy minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Office of Trade and Investment.

“We will be submitting a request to set up a panel once the WTO dispute settlement body resumes its activities,” Na said.

The government’s decision comes 11 months after Japan intensified its controls on exports to South Korea in July 2019. At the time, Japan instituted individual rather than bulk permits for exports of three semiconductor and display materials and removed South Korea from its “white list” of countries benefiting from expedited export procedures, prompting Seoul to lodge a complaint against Tokyo with the WTO. Two months after its complaint, the two countries resumed dialogue on the bureau director-level in November and reached an agreement on provisionally postponing WTO dispute settlement procedures.

The South Korean government’s latest decision to resume dispute settlement procedures is based on its conclusion that the “normal dialogue” cited as a condition for the suspension at the time is no longer possible.

In a regular press conference that afternoon, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the announcement from South Korea was “extremely dismaying,” adding that there had been “sincere communication between [expert management] authorities so far.”

He added that Japan “plans to continue to appropriately explain our position that the reexamination of export management announced in July of last year is in conformity with WTO agreements.”

By Lee Jae-yeon, staff reporter, and Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent

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