Japan’s tightening of trade controls against Seoul was an apparent retaliation for South Korean court rulings in 2018 that ordered Japanese companies to compensate Korean workers for abusive treatment and forced labor during World War II, when the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese occupation. Reinstating South Korea's preferential status will end a four-year trade dispute that began in July 2019 when Japan removed South Korea from its “white list” of countries given fast-track approvals in trade as ties deteriorated over compensation for Japanese wartime actions. “With import and export procedures getting simplified, we expect exchanges and cooperation between the countries’ companies to accelerate.” “For the first time in four years, all export restrictions between the countries have been lifted,” Lee said in a briefing Tuesday afternoon. Lee Do Woon, spokesperson of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, called Japan’s step a symbolic measure that underscores the countries’ “fully restored bilateral trust” and the removal of uncertainty in trade. Japan and South Korea have been rapidly mending their ties as they deepen three-way security cooperation with Washington in response to growing regional threats from North Korea and China. Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters that Japan and South Korea have also agreed to set up a framework to review and follow up on the systems as needed. TOKYO – Japan announced a decision Tuesday to reinstate South Korea as a preferred nation with fast-track trade status starting July 21, virtually ending a four-year economic row that was further strained during their bitter historic disputes.
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