Japan on Thursday has permitted shipment of hydrogen fluoride to South Korea for the first time since it put three chemicals going into wafer fabrication for chips and displays on case-by-case scrutiny if they are headed to a Korean entity from early July.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy confirmed that Tokyo gave the go-ahead to a Japanese company seeking to ship hydrogen fluoride, a type of gas used to clean chips, to Samsung Electronics. The volume reportedly would be sufficient to back chips process for one or two months, he added.

Tokyo declined to confirm specific shipment under export control.

This is the first time Japan granted hydrogen fluoride exports since July 4 when three materials necessary for wafer process – photoresist, hydrogen fluoride, and fluorinated polyimide – have been singled out for case-by-case approval, an administrative process that can take up to 90 days and potentially disrupt production in Korea with heavy reliance on Japanese supplies.

In recent weeks, Japan approved two shipments of photoresist.

Tokyo has been trying to mitigate Seoul’s claims that the export curbs are retaliation for Korean court rulings on wartime forced labor.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks at a cabinet meeting in Cheong Wa Dae on Aug. 29, 2019. [Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

The latest shipment could be a relief for Samsung Electronics which would be running out of the stock essential in chipmaking. Japan accounts for more than 70 percent of etching gas supplies around the globe.

President Moon Jae-in in an interview with the Bangkok Post ahead of his Sept. 1-3 visit to Thailand stressed that Seoul wished to solve the conflict with Japan diplomatically.

“I’m ready to embrace and cooperate with Japan when it returns to the table for dialogue and cooperation,” said Moon.

His comment comes after tensions between the two have spilled over the security front after Seoul ended the bilateral military-intelligence pact last week.

By Jung Wook and Lee Ha-yeon

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