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Post by Admin on Jul 31, 2019 17:46:51 GMT
Japan and South Korea have both sought for weeks to get the White House on their side in their spiraling trade dispute, with little success. Now, the U.S. may finally be stepping in. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo told reporters while en route to an Asian regional conference that he would urge the U.S.’s feuding allies to ease the tensions during meetings with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts. His comments came after a senior U.S. official said in Washington that the Trump administration was urging the two sides to reach a “standstill agreement” to give themselves room to negotiate. The U.S. has been largely silent for months as a dispute over whether Japan has sufficiently compensated Koreans who suffered under the country’s 1910-45 occupation of the peninsula has escalated into a trade conflict. Earlier this month, Japan announced restrictions on exports to South Korea of some materials used in the production of memory chips and other components vital for smartphones, laptops and servers at U.S. tech giants such as Amazon.com and Microsoft Corp.
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Post by Admin on Aug 1, 2019 23:52:53 GMT
Japan’s decision to restrict exports of three chemicals used in the production of semiconductors and display screens to South Korea could affect Samsung’s product launch; and give Apple an edge over its Korean competitor.
That’s according to Rolando Hernandez, vice president of Valid, a mobile solutions provider.
"The edge that Apple could have over Samsung due to the conflict between South Korea and Japan is mainly from the supply chain perspective,” says Hernandez.
According to Hernandez, Apple has been in conversations with the Chinese company BOE Technology Group since last year about them becoming their third provider of this technology, regardless of the current commercial conflict between the US and China. “However, due to the current conflict between Japan and South Korea, it looks like Apple already has another supplier that can fulfill its expectations,” he says.
Meanwhile, the US-China trade disputes will make it difficult for Samsung to find alternative suppliers in China, Hernandez concludes. “It could be tougher for Samsung to find another supplier for their own devices. BOE is its direct competitor and even at the end of last year, Samsung indicted a group of employees at one of Samsung's vendors for leaking OLED edge panel technology to China."
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Post by Admin on Aug 5, 2019 17:43:31 GMT
The current face-off stems from South Korean demands for compensation for the abuses inflicted on the country by Japanese occupiers before and during World War Two. The Japanese Empire controlled the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, forcing Koreans into slave labor and sexual slavery, among other crimes. The debate over reparations has simmered for decades, but last week reached a head when Japan downgraded its trading relationship with Seoul, taking South Korea off of a 27-nation list for which exports of industrial and high-tech products are fast-tracked. The new restrictions will come into effect on August 28. The decision was made despite last minute pressure from the U.S. With Washington locked in a trade war with China and facing a bullish regime in North Korea, the U.S. will be concerned that the Japan-South Korea spat could undermine its network of regional alliances. Indeed, Seoul said last week it would consider withdrawing from an intelligence sharing agreement with the U.S. and Japan, which has been vital in monitoring North Korea's nuclear build up. The U.S. has largely stood back from the conflict, with President Donald Trump declaring last month that mediating would be "like a full-time job." The new trade restrictions were Japan's second move against South Korea. Last month, Tokyo tightened controls on exports of chemicals used to make semiconductors and digital flat screens, which are key elements of South Korea's economy. Japan cited unspecified national security concerns, claiming Seoul had "mishandled" items that could have military uses. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the "selfish act will inflict tremendous damage on the world economy by disrupting global supply chains...Responsibility for what is going to happen next also lies squarely with the Japanese government." Moon's assertion that "we will never again lose to Japan" indicated that whatever the contemporary trade issue might be, there remains a strong undercurrent of historical grievance. Such grievances have risen to the fore periodically since the end of Japan's occupation of the peninsula. Nonetheless, the two nations have become increasingly close since South Korea dropped its ban against Japanese videos and comic books in the 1990s. In 2002, the two nations even co-hosted the FIFA World Cup.
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Post by Admin on Aug 19, 2019 20:30:57 GMT
The Japanese government has issued a travel advisory to Japanese citizens visiting South Korea, ahead of crucial anniversaries this week, urging them to be cautious about safety as ties between the neighbors worsen over trade and historical issues. South Korea commemorates girls and women forced to work in Japan's wartime brothels on Wednesday and marks Thursday as a national day of liberation from Japanese rule, which ran from 1910 to 1945. Japan's foreign ministry advised Japanese residents in South Korea and visitors to be careful and avoid areas in which Japan-related protests and gatherings are expected to be held on Wednesday and Thursday. The ministry has issued similar travel advisories earlier this month ahead of protests expected near Japan's embassy or consulate in South Korea. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since a ruling by South Korea's Supreme Court last year that Japanese companies should compensate South Koreans who were conscripted as forced laborers during World War Two.
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Post by Admin on Aug 22, 2019 19:34:04 GMT
South Korea said Thursday it will terminate an intelligence-sharing deal with Japan that focused on classified information about North Korea, a surprise announcement that is likely to set back U.S. efforts to bolster security cooperation with two of its most important allies in the Asian region.
South Korea attributed the decision to its bitter trade dispute with Japan, which has plunged the two countries’ relations to their lowest point since they established diplomatic ties in 1965. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono called the decision “extremely regrettable” and summoned the South Korean ambassador to protest the linking of trade and security issues.
The U.S. expressed disappointment in the decision. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. hopes that “each of those two countries can begin to put that relationship back in exactly the right place.” The U.S. is urging Japan and South Korea to continue to talk, he said.
Many experts had predicted that South Korea would be unlikely to spike the 3-year-old intelligence-sharing deal for the sake of its relations with the United States. South Korea has been seeking U.S. help in resolving the trade dispute, and Seoul and Washington have also been working together to restart stalled talks on stripping North Korea of its nuclear weapons.
South Korea’s presidential office said it terminated the intelligence deal because Japan’s recent decision to downgrade South Korea’s trade status caused a “grave” change in security cooperation between the countries.
“Under this situation, the government has determined that maintaining the agreement, which was signed for the purpose of exchanging sensitive military intelligence on security, does not serve our national interests,” Kim You-geun, the deputy director of South Korea’s presidential national security office, said in a nationally televised statement.
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