Japan approves 1st shipment of chemicals to S. Korea under new trade curbs

Japan’s government said on Thursday it has granted the first permit for South Korea-bound shipment of chemicals for use in high-tech materials under Tokyo’s new export requirement that has increased tensions with Seoul.

Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko made a rare announcement of this type of approval, saying that officials determined the transaction raised no security concerns, AP said. The move is apparently meant to calm South Korean anger over Tokyo’s export curbs and show there is no trade ban in place.

Japan imposed stricter controls on fluorinated polyimides, photo resists, and hydrogen fluoride which are used mainly for South Korea’s semiconductor industry, as of July 4. The rules also downgrade South Korea’s trade status, beginning later this month.

Seoul says Japan is using trade to retaliate against its court decisions ordering Japanese companies to compensate Korean forced laborers before and during World War II, when the Korean Peninsula was under Tokyo’s rule.