Japan–South Korea trade dispute participant Japan
The Japan–South Korea trade dispute, also known as the Japan–South Korea economic war, was an economic conflict between Japan and South Korea.
There are different cited causes behind the conflict. The Japanese government removed South Korea from the "white list" for preferential trading in July 2019, as a response to alleged South Korean violations of United Nations prohibitions against exporting certain materials to North Korea. It later officially argued that the conflict was caused by the South Korean government noncompliance with export controls and regulations to prevent resale of strategic goods, and ignoring the Japanese government's request to hold export control talks for three years. However, the conflict was regarded as retaliation to the Supreme Court of South Korea's decisions regarding compensation by the South Korean government. The South Korean government has also denied any claims of mismanagement by the Japanese government.Several external observers have stated that the current tensions are a reflection of or are responses to various historical grievances from Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula and from recent regional flash points, such as relations with North Korea and China.The trade dispute had caused a significant deterioration in Japan–South Korea relations to the lowest point since the two countries normalized their diplomatic relations in 1965.