South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue held talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the first day of his visit to Japan on March 16, 2023. (Reuters)

Under the Threat of Pyongyang Missiles, Yoon Suk-yue Arrives in Tokyo for Historic Visit Japan and South Korea Promise to End High-tech Export Control Dispute :

TAIPEI- 

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue arrived in Tokyo on Thursday (March 16), becoming the first South Korean president to pay an official visit to Japan in more than 10 years. On the first day of his two-day trip to Japan, he held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and reached an agreement to put down the high-tech materials trade dispute that has plagued the two sides for nearly four years. "Reuters" reported that for the two countries that intend to repair tense relations and jointly respond to deepening security threats, this is undoubtedly a powerful signal to the outside world.

South Korea's trade ministry said Japan would lift restrictions on exports to South Korea of ​​key materials for smartphone displays and chips, while Seoul would withdraw its complaint against Tokyo at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The South Korean Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that Japanese companies must compensate Korean labourers forced to recruit during World War II. In July of the following year, Japan announced strict export restrictions on high-tech materials to South Korea on the grounds of "security guarantees", and at the same time removed South Korea from the white list of trade preferences. South Korea subsequently removed Japan from the white list of trade preferences, and filed a lawsuit against the WTO, seeking to use the WTO dispute settlement procedure to deal with Japan's export control issues.

Yoon's government announced earlier this month that it would provide compensation to past victims of forced labour through a public foundation funded by private companies. The move is aimed at ending a years-long dispute that has strained relations with Japan. But the plan has sparked a backlash from former forced labourers and their supporters, who are demanding outright compensation from Japanese companies.

Hours before Yoon's takeoff, North Korea terminated a long-range rocket that arrived in the ocean between the Korean promontory and Japan. Before departure, Yin Xiyue held an emergency national security meeting, warning that North Korea would pay the price for reckless provocations, and at the same time emphasized the importance of enhancing security cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea.

South Korea's military said Thursday that North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Pyongyang area at 7:10 a.m. local time. According to information released by the Ministry of Defense of Japan, the missile landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone about 550 kilometres east of the Korean Peninsula about 69 minutes later.

The US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson also issued a statement stating that the United States strongly condemns the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) ICBM test, saying that the test blatantly violated multiple UN Security Council resolutions; Urges all countries to condemn these violations and calls on North Korea to cease its destabilizing actions and engage in serious dialogue.

This is the first time in four years that a South Korean president has visited Japan. Moon Jae-in, who was the last president at the time, participated in the Osaka G20 summit in 2019. If the official diplomatic visit of the bilateral leaders is the standard, Yin Xiyue is the first South Korean president to visit Japan since Lee Myung-bak in 2011.

According to Japanese media reports, Yin Xiyue and Kishida Fumio are preparing to confirm the restart of the bilateral security dialogue suspended since 2018, and Tokyo and Seoul are also expected to resume the "shuttle diplomacy" of regular visits between leaders.

(This article refers to the Reuters report.)

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