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Post by Admin on Feb 9, 2019 17:42:07 GMT
North Korea is no longer South Korea’s “enemy,” though Pyongyang’s nuclear program still poses a security threat, according to Seoul’s biennial defense document published Tuesday.
It’s the first time since 2010, the same year 50 South Koreans were killed in attacks blamed on the North, that the enemy label hasn’t been applied, and a further sign of better ties between the rivals.
The South Korean Defense Ministry white paper doesn’t include past terms that labeled North Korea an “enemy, a “present enemy” or the South’s “main enemy.” It still said the North’s weapons of mass destruction are a “threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” a reference to the North’s missile and nuclear program.
The “enemy” terminology has been a long-running source of animosity between the Koreas. North Korea has called the label a provocation that demonstrated Seoul’s hostility.
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Post by Admin on Feb 13, 2019 19:31:53 GMT
U.S. Republicans and Democrats joined together on Tuesday to tout the long alliance between Japan, South Korea and the United States, hoping to reinforce the trilateral relationship amid an intensifying feud between Tokyo and Seoul. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate from both parties introduced resolutions in the two chambers affirming Congress' strong support for ties between the three countries and the critical importance of cooperation. Relations between Japan and South Korea have chilled recently due to disputes over their wartime history, including Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean peninsula, as well as allegations of provocations by each country's military. The dispute threatens regional efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear program, just weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump is to hold a second summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Feb 27-28. "With so much at stake ... it is critical that we maintain a responsible path forward," Democratic Representative Eliot Engel, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and a co-sponsor of the measure, said in a statement. The measures were introduced by Engel and Representative Mike McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as top Senate Foreign Relations Democrat Bob Menendez and the leaders from both parties of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Asia subcommittees.
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Post by Admin on Jul 11, 2019 0:05:40 GMT
Now, Tokyo has announced that the sale of certain products will be subject to government review before being approved for sale to South Korea — a move that experts say will essentially bring trade in these materials to a halt. Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun even went so far as to call the policy “a de facto embargo.” The three main materials in question are polyimides, which are used in the manufacture of smartphone and LED displays, as well as etching gas and resist, both used in the semiconductor industry. According to the Korean International Trade Association, South Korea imports 91.9 percent of its resist, 43.9 percent of its etching gas, and 93.7 percent of its polyimides from Japan, meaning that these trade restrictions could force Korean tech manufacturing firms to make major shifts in their supply chain to keep production running. And things could become even worse soon — pending public discussion on the issue, Japan also announced plans to remove South Korea from its “white list” of countries where items of national security concern can be exported without needing a permit. While the reliance on Japanese exports of these products makes these new restrictions a cause for concern, industry experts seem optimistic about South Korean companies’ ability to survive on reserves in the short term and then begin to shift supply chains to accommodate the change. Some even expected manufacturers to shift more toward domestic Korean suppliers, which would make Japan’s harsh policies more of a boon for the South Korean economy in the long run. Thus far, the South Korean government has largely stayed silent on the lawsuit issue, mostly deferring to the court’s decision and vowing to continue diplomatic cooperation with Tokyo. For President Moon Jae-in and his Democratic Party, coming out firmly against the wartime labor settlements would be political suicide. In fact, Moon has sided with victim’s advocacy groups multiple times despite diplomatic threats from Tokyo, even going so far as to dissolve a foundation set up via the highly unpopular 2015 comfort women agreement between Seoul and Tokyo that was meant to finally solve the issue of reparations for victims and their families. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has his own political reality to deal with. Some have pointed out that with a Diet election coming up at the end of July, Abe may be trying to rally his conservative base by taking a hardline stance against South Korea. For the time being, the South Korean government has announced plans to file World Trade Organization disputes against Japan, claiming the harsh new export policies violate trade rules. Seoul’s preferred resolution to the labor lawsuits is to set up a joint fund where South Korean and Japanese companies can voluntarily contribute money for victims — a proposal Japan has soundly rejected. Given the political restrictions for both sides, it may be that these thorny issues are simply not going to be resolved, at least in the short term.
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Post by Admin on Jul 13, 2019 6:30:18 GMT
The office of President Moon Jae-in on Friday bristled at Japan's accusations that South Korea might have leaked sensitive industrial materials to North Korea or third countries, demanding that Tokyo agree to have an international panel look into the issue.
Cheong Wa Dae urged the Japanese government to apologize and retract its recent export control against Seoul if its assertion turns out to be false.
In a statement, Kim You-geun, deputy chief of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, emphasized that South Korea, a signatory to four major multilateral export control regimes, has thoroughly curbed the illicit shipment of dual-use and strategic materials from its shores.
If South Korea is found to have done anything wrong, the government will immediately apology and address the problem, he said. The offer is the latest in South Korea's response to Japan's export restrictions against the neighbor on three types of key chemical materials used in memory chips and smartphones -- fluorinated polyimides, photoresist and hydrogen fluoride, also known as etching gas.
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Post by Admin on Jul 15, 2019 17:46:49 GMT
Samsung boss JY Lee has ordered the conglomerate's semiconductor and display businesses to draw up contingency plans in case the trade dispute between South Korea and Japan becomes dragged out, according to South Korean media reports. The de facto leader of Samsung Group, JY Lee, reportedly convened a meeting on Sunday with senior executives of Samsung Electronics' display and semiconductor businesses upon his return from Japan, ordering them to come up with plans that took into account Japan's trade restrictions, a Hankyung report said. JY Lee left for Tokyo last week to meet with local business leaders to discuss how to move forward after Japan's announcement to impose trade restrictions on South Korean companies in relation to key materials that go into producing displays and semiconductors. Japan has so far singled out three materials -- fluorinated polyimide, resist, and hydrogen fluoride -- in its trade restrictions. Japanese companies require government approval before they can export these materials to South Korean companies. As Japanese companies are the main manufacturers of these materials, the restrictions have had direct implications on the chip and display production of Samsung Electronics, as well as its compatriots SK Hynix and LG Display.
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