South Korea to restore Japan preferential trade status

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the President's office in Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. President Yoon said Tuesday that his government will take measures to restore Japan's preferential trade status as he pushes for his contentious bid to resolve fraught ties with Japan despite domestic opposition. AP SEOUL, South Korea AP - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that his government will move to restore Japan's preferential trade status as he pushes to resolve history and trade disputes with Japan despite domestic opposition.

In lengthy televised comments during a Cabinet Council meeting, Yoon defended his move, saying that leaving ties with Japan as fraught as they were would be neglecting his duty because greater bilateral cooperation is vital to solve the diverse challenges facing Seoul.

I thought it would feel like neglecting my duty as president if I had also incited hostile nationalism and anti-Japan sentiments to use them for domestic politics while leaving behind the current, grave international political situation, Yoon said.

He said that the need to boost ties with Japan has grown because of North Korea advancing nuclear program, the intensifying U.S.-China strategic rivalry and global supply chain challenges.

South Korea and Japan have deep economic and cultural ties and are two key U.S. allies that together host about 80,000 U.S. troops. Their relations have often fluctuated due to issues that have arisen from Japan's 1910 -- 45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Two Japanese companies were ordered by the South Korean court rulings in 2018 to compensate some of their former Korean employees for forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Japan refused to accept the rulings, saying all compensation issues had already been settled when the two countries normalized ties in 1965.

The history disputes spilled over to other issues with the two countries downgrading each other's trade status. Japan tightened controls on exports to South Korea, while Seoul threatened to terminate a military intelligence-sharing pact.

After months of negotiations with Japan, Yoon s government announced earlier this month it would use local funds to compensate the forced laborer victims involved in the 2018 lawsuits, without requiring contributions from the Japanese companies.

Yoon traveled to Tokyo last week for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during which they agreed to resume regular visits and economic security talks.

Ahead of the summit, the South Korean government said that Japan had agreed to lift export controls on South Korea, and South Korea would withdraw its complaint to the World Trade Organization once the curbs are removed. They said the two countries would continue to talk about restoring each other's trade status.

Yoon's push has caused protests from some forced labor victims, their supporters and opposition political parties who have demanded direct compensation from the Japanese companies and a direct apology from Tokyo over forced labor. There was a public survey that 60% of Koreans opposed Yoon's measures to solve the forced labor issue.

Yoon said that he will order his trade minister to take legal steps necessary to reinclude Japan in a whitelist of nations receiving preferential trade status.

He said that both South Korea and Japan must remove obstacles that hinder the improvement of bilateral relations. If South Korea eliminates obstacles, Japan will surely reciprocate, he said.