South Korea dropped Japan from its list of trusted trade partners on Wednesday in further move in ongoing trade row.
Seoul’s trade ministry has removed Japan from the trusted partners list to an in-between group, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
Local companies shipping “strategic goods” to Japan will now have to submit more paperwork than in the past, slowing down the approval process.
In recent months, Tokyo has taken a series of trade steps against Seoul, which are linked to a spat over Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
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Tokyo announced in early July that certain materials used for the production of chips and microchips would require individual approvals when exported to South Korea, instead of bulk licences issued in the past.
When it announced the export curbs, the government in Tokyo argued that the two countries’ relationship had been “significantly undermined” recently.
This was in reference to an October ruling by South Korea’s Supreme Court, which ordered Japanese companies to compensate South Koreans over forced labour during Japan’s occupation.
