Japan granted its second clearance to a Japanese company to export a chip making material under a control list since July 4 to South Korea as foreign ministers of the two wrangling countries are expected to hold talks in Beijing as early as Tuesday.

Japan’s trade ministry on Monday gave Japan’s JSR the green light to ship 3 million barrels, or six months worth of extreme ultraviolet photoresist to Samsung Electronics, according to Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It is the second easing on its selective tightening after Tokyo two weeks ago allowed Shin-Etsu Chemical to send 1.5 million barrels of photoresist to Samsung Electronics. Since July 4, three chemicals necessary for wafer process have been singled out for case-by-case approval, a process that could take up to 90 days, when they are headed for Korea after Tokyo cited security reasons and weakened trust between the two nations for the extraordinary move. No shipments were approved until the first two weeks ago.

The sanctioned chemicals photoresists, fluorinated polyamides and hydrogen fluoride are critical for making semiconductors and display panels, which are Korea’s top export items. Korea relies heavily on Japanese supplies of intermediate parts and materials.

As previously warned, Japan announced earlier this month that it was removing Korea from the list of white countries subject to fast-track clearance in items that can be abused for military purposes but did not specify additional items that can fall under case-by-case review.

Korea’s trade ministry greeted the faster-than-expected approvals but said it would not back down until Japan “completely withdraws its curbs and reinstates Korea on the white list.”

Japan has been relenting or stalling its trade sanctions amid mounting criticism against its discriminatory move on Korea on ambiguous grounds and escalated Korean consumer boycott versus Japanese products and country.

While Japan has cited national security reasons for the curbs, Seoul identified the move as retaliation for Korean court rulings that ordered Japanese companies to compensate victims of wartime forced labor during Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of Korea.

Japan refuses to comply with the rulings by citing all wartime claims were settled through loan and aid grants as a part of the 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral ties between Korea and Japan.

Korean President Moon Jae-in who vowed not to give in to Japan eased his tone in a speech marking the 74th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan last week and offered to “join hands” with Japan if it chose dialogue.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa (right) shakes hands with her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono at the 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Bangkok on August 1. [Photo by Yonhap News Agency]

A foreign ministerial meeting of Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing is scheduled for Wednesday, but ministers of Korea and Japan are expected to meet separately in hopes to clear the air. Seoul has been flagging the possibility of breaking the military intelligence sharing accord known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).

GSOMIA is a bilateral accord aimed to counter nuclear threats from North Korea. The agreement is automatically renewed every August.

By Lim Sung-hyun and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]