Japan hits back at Korea over WW2 forced labour row

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI) has announced export restrictions on three chip-making components to South Korea, as a retaliatory move against Seoul’s repeated assaults on Japanese assets in South Korea.

METI’s staunchly nationalistic Minister Hiroshige Seko announced measures imposing Japanese manufacturers of fluorinated polyimide, photosensitising agent resist and hydrogen fluoride to request export permits for each export batch to South Korea, a process that could take up to 90 days per batch. The three components are vital for the likes of Samsung, LG Electronics and SK Hynix to manufacture and clean microchips and displays, and Japan controls 70 to 90% of the world’s production of the three substances.

The move comes as Korean courts have for months ordered the seizing of Japanese multinationals’ assets in the country as reparations for supposedly unresolved WW2 forced labour cases (see previous related comments on AsiaPowerWatch: https://asiapowerwatch.com/tag/korea/).

A mini-US/China trade war that could seriously disrupt microchip supply chains…

http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/japan-restricts-chip-smartphone-materials-exports-to-south-korea/article/553133

Picture credits: cryptonewsz.com

Nicolas Michelon

Nicolas is a corporate geoeconomics and strategic & business intelligence expert with 25 years of experience in the Asia-Pacific region. He advises corporate executives on how to navigate the current geopolitical and geoeconomic environment, mitigate risk and develop prospective scenarios. He is also an Adjunct Professor & Guest Lecturer in geopolitics, geoeconomics and business intelligence at ESCP Business School (France), Galatasaray University (Türkiye), Ecole de Guerre Economique (Paris School of Economic Warfare) and the International University of Monaco.