S. Korea reinstated in Japan’s whitelist in 4 years

The Japanese government has fully lifted the exclusion of South Korea from its "favorable country" export screening (whitelist) measures, which were implemented in 2019 as retaliatory actions against the South Korean Supreme Court's rulings on compensation for victims of forced labor during Japan's colonial rule. This move halts the recent trade disputes caused by Japan's retaliatory measures.

The Japanese government decided to revise certain provisions of its Export Trade Control Order, thereby including South Korea in the whitelist during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. As a result, South Korea has been reinstated in the list along with countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. This means when exporting goods or providing technology to South Korea, general comprehensive licenses can be applied, and restrictions on exporting materials that can be used for conventional weapons have also been lifted. These measures will be promulgated on Friday and implemented from July 21.

On April 24, South Korea published a “notice on strategic materials” in the official gazette announcing the inclusion of Japan in its whitelist again.

With Japan's recent measures, the time it takes for South Korean companies to have their strategic material exports to Japan reviewed has been reduced from the previous 15 days to 5 days. Additionally, the required documents for individual export permits have been reduced from 5 to 3.

"Following the president's visit to Japan in March, which helped lay the foundation of trust, our preemptive efforts on the whitelist and in-depth policy dialogue have restored mutual trust in the field of export controls between our two countries," said the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy on the same day.


sanghun@donga.com