Government on Shipbuilding Industry Financial Support: "No Basis for Japan's Claims"

30th WTO Korea-Japan Shipbuilding Dispute First Bilateral Consultation

The photo shows workers starting their work with the rising sun at the LNG shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in Okpo Shipyard, Geoje, Gyeongnam. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chae-seok] The government pointed out that Japan's complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding subsidies provided to South Korea's shipbuilding industry is unfounded.

On the 31st, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it held a bilateral consultation via video conference the previous day with Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the European Union (EU) participating as a third party.

The meeting held the previous day was the first bilateral consultation since Japan filed the WTO dispute at the end of January.

During this bilateral consultation, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy pointed out that Japan's issues regarding the restructuring financing for Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering were baseless.

Jung Ha-neul, Director of the Trade Dispute Response Division at the Ministry, said, "The financial transactions that Japan raised as problematic were conducted in a manner consistent with the WTO based on commercial considerations," and added, "We emphasized in the meeting that these did not cause any negative effects such as market distortion in the shipbuilding sector."

Director Jung also stated, "Our government plans to actively respond to the procedures that will follow according to the WTO dispute settlement process."

Japan requested bilateral consultations (filed a complaint) at the end of January, claiming that South Korea's restructuring measures related to the shipbuilding industry, including the restructuring financing for Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, violated the WTO Subsidies Agreement.

This was a new request for bilateral consultations that added measures taken after the initial complaint triggered by Japan's filing on November 6, 2018, concerning the 'Korea-Japan shipbuilding dispute.'

The bilateral consultation proceeded following an agreement to hold the meeting within this month, considering the 60-day consultation period between the two countries after Japan's request for bilateral consultations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.