Japan issued a decision on Tuesday to return South Korea to its white list of trusted trading partners nearly 4 years after it was removed from the list, a move that will strengthen economic relations between the two countries, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the industry ministry in the capital Seoul.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in Seoul said Japan’s Ministry of Commerce had amended a rule to reclassify South Korea as a “Group A”, or White List state, which would give Seoul preferential export treatment, effective July 21.
In 2019, Tokyo downgraded South Korea to “Group B” after export restrictions were imposed on 3 major industrial items, in a clear response to the rulings of the South Korean Supreme Court in 2018 that forced two Japanese companies to pay compensation to victims of forced labour in Korea during the era of Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945.
Japan lifted export restrictions on Seoul last March after South Korean President Yun Sok-yul and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to make joint efforts to improve bilateral relations, with South Korea returning Japan to its white list the following month.