Korea’s trade minister Yoo Myung-hee

South Korea’s calls for a ministerial meeting with Japan at an Asia-Pacific economic conference next month may go unanswered as Tokyo remains reluctant to engage in high-level talks concerning the latest export curbs against its Asian neighbor.

The trade ministers of both countries would be attending the eighth ministerial conference of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to be held in Beijing on August 2-3, Korea’s trade ministry said Thursday.

This would be the first time for Korea’s trade minister Yoo Myung-hee and her Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko to come together since Japan’s trade curbs against Korea kicked in earlier this month.

On July 4, the Japanese government imposed tougher restrictions on exports to South Korea of three key materials crucial for the production of semiconductors and displays, citing national security reasons. It has also threatened to remove Korea from its whitelist of countries granted preferential export procedures in the coming weeks.

Korea said it has offered to talk with Japan on the sidelines of the RCEP conference but has yet to hear a response.

Japan also turned down Korea’s request to hold high-level talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council meeting in Geneva on Wednesday.

RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six states with which ASEAN has free trade pacts, including South Korea, China and Japan. Member countries have been ironing out the details with an aim to conclude talks by the end of the year.

Korea plans to once again use the international platform to drum up support from other countries. Korea’s deputy prime minister at the latest WTO meeting condemned Japan’s move as “diplomatic retaliation in response to Seoul’s court rulings on wartime forced labor” and accused the country of “using trade as a political tool.”

Tokyo refuses to discuss the matter in the international framework, claiming the move is based on “security” grounds and no other political, historic or diplomatic design.

By Lim Sung-hyun and Kim Hyo-jin

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