The diplomatic rift between Tokyo and Seoul widened earlier this month after Japan removed South Korea from its "whitelist" of preferred trading partners. The apparent reason given for the move is national security: Japan says some strategic materials it sells to South Korea are making their way to third countries. Seoul, however, believes Tokyo is punishing it for a South Korean Supreme Court decision that found in favor of citizens who said they were forced to work for Japanese companies during World War II, when the peninsula was a colony of Japan.
Although the particulars of the disagreement have been covered by the Japanese media, there has been scant coverage of its effect on the domestic chemical companies that produce the strategic materials in question, which are vital to South Korean electronics manufacturers. On Aug. 4, however, the Mainichi Shimbun published a feature that said Japan had a trade surplus worth approximately ¥2.24 trillion with South Korea in 2018.
This surplus is being threatened by South Korean retaliation, including consumer boycotts of Japanese products, which antagonize a number of Japanese people and, in turn, boosts the support rate for the government's actions. The Aug. 8 issue of the weekly magazine Shukan Shincho included a feature on how the row is affecting trade in Japanese goods.