S. Korea fails to justify trade restriction – Tokyo

Japan hit back at South Korea on Tuesday for removing Tokyo’s fast-track trade status. Japanese Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko said Seoul had failed to show how Japan had purportedly fallen short of international export control measures, Reuters reports.

South Korea signaled plans on Monday to remove Japan from a list of countries with fast-track trade status from September.

“From the start, it is totally unclear under what basis South Korea can say that Japan’s export control measures don’t meet the export control regime,” Seko tweeted.

Earlier this month, Japan announced that it was removing South Korea from its own “white list” of countries that have enjoyed minimum trade restrictions, citing an erosion of trust.