Japan will send a senior government official to a World Trade Organization general council meeting next week to stress what it says is the legitimate tightening of controls on exports to South Korea of materials used in high-tech device production, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.
The planned dispatch of Shingo Yamagami, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Economic Affairs Bureau, comes after Seoul said it will take the matter to the WTO, arguing the restrictions are a retaliatory step in response to South Korean court rulings on wartime labor.
Japan now requires companies to obtain individual licenses to export three materials — fluorinated polyimide, hydrogen fluoride and photoresists — used in the production of semiconductors and display panels to South Korea. The tightened controls began July 4 and national security concerns were cited as a reason.