South Korea and Japan agreed to conduct senior-level trade talks in December. The topic to discuss is regarding Japan’s export restrictions amid the trade dispute between the two countries.
In addition, the talks will most likely take place in Tokyo, in the third week of December. Two countries’ officials have confirmed on Saturday that the meeting is to improve the worsening relations due to the trade dispute and wartime past.
“We will pursue dialogue with an ultimate goal to make things like the white list or three items go back to the original state,” said Lee Ho-hyun, a South Korean senior trade ministry official.
Even though the objectives of the talks are clearly stated, Tokyo does not seem to be willing in looking for solutions. Instead, Japan’s trade minister Hiroshi Kajiyama implied that the dialogue is a good opportunity to assess the situation rather than to find a solution.
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The Boycott Still Affects South Korea-Japan Trade
Citing Japan’s trade data, the Boycott Japan movement is still in effect to this very day. Among all the products, beer products spot a tremendously significant decline.
According to the data, beer exports to South Korea were down to zero. Regarding the decline, it was indubitably far from last month’s USD 7.3 million a year earlier.
The boycott movement comes from Korean’s teenagers and shop owners. Reportedly, among many products, beer was an easy target. Last year, South Korea bought two thirds of the country’s beer exports in 2018.
Japan’s beer exports to South Korea have been skydiving since the trade dispute happened. In contrast to 2018 exports, the exports to South Korea fell 92% in August and 99.9% in September, then it finally hit the lowest in October.
According to Michigan State University, South Korea is Japan’s third-largest trading partner. In 2018, Tokyo exported roughly USD 53 billion goods to Seoul. The exports included industrial machines, chemicals and autos.
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