Japan’s removal of S. Korea from white list takes effect

日本將南韓踢出白名單生效

S. Korea says it will only reconsider GSOMIA if Japan withdraws de-listing


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Japan’s exclusion of South Korea from its white list of favored trade partners took effect this morning (Aug. 28), NHK reports.

Japan’s Cabinet has insisted that the delisting, approved on August 2, was purely due to the need to reconsider South Korea's trustworthiness as a security partner after an allegation that South Korea re-exports some strategic materials to North Korea. Nevertheless, it was more widely seen as political retaliation against a South Korean Supreme Court ruling that ordered Japanese companies to compensate for forced labor during World War II.

As a countermeasure, the South Korean government decided not to renew the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan, which had allowed the two countries to share defensive military information mostly related to North Korea, on August 22. It claimed that the continuance of the agreement would be “against the country’s interest” given that Japan was indifferent to the “olive branch” extended by South Korean President Moon Jae-in (文在寅) on August 15.

The prime minister of South Korea, Lee Nak-yeon (李洛淵), said on Monday (Aug. 26) that South Korea will only reconsider renewing the GSOMIA if Japan withdraws its decision to de-list South Korea. He complained that Japan had labeled South Korea an untrustworthy country without any concrete evidence.

Lee also justified his country's move as a natural outcome since Japan has questioned the trustworthiness of South Korea as a security partner. He urged Japan to withdraw its wrongful decision before the GSOMIA expires on November 11.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga (菅義偉) said on Tuesday (Aug. 27) that the decisions to terminate the GSOMIA and tighten export regulations are “problems on completely different levels,” and condemned South Korea for pegging the two problems together. Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hiroshige Seko (世耕弘成), also criticized Lee’s remarks, saying they were “completely incomprehensible and unacceptable.”

Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Taro Kono (河野太郎), restated that the South Korean ruling was invalid due to an accord on the claim rights of wartime wrongdoings signed by both countries in 1965, adding that he hopes South Korea can understand that “rewriting history is impossible.” On the other hand, Lee urged Japan to understand that the South Korean government should not intervene in judicial decisions according to the principle of powers separation.

The continuing friction between the two countries has put the U.S., their mutual ally, in a difficult position. U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo has warned that the termination of the GSOMIA would greatly damage the joint operational capability of the three countries vis-a-vis North Korea.