Decision on Establishing Panel for Japan's Export Restrictions at WTO Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The World Trade Organization (WTO) is expected to decide next month whether to establish a panel regarding Japan's export restrictions against South Korea.

The WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) held a meeting on the 29th (local time) at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the agenda for establishing a panel (WT/DS590/4) requested by the South Korean government. However, the respondent country, Japan, rejected the request, and the panel was not established on that day.

Accordingly, if the agenda is raised again at the next DSB meeting, the decision on whether to establish the panel is expected to be made. The next DSB meeting is scheduled for July 29.

According to WTO regulations, if the respondent country rejects the panel establishment, the panel is automatically established at the following meeting unless all member countries unanimously oppose it. The panel consists of three members, and the appointment of members is decided through consultation between the complainant and respondent countries.

Previously, Japan changed three key semiconductor and display manufacturing materials?photoresist, fluorinated polyimide, and high-purity hydrogen fluoride?from general comprehensive licensing to individual licensing in July last year as a de facto retaliatory measure against the South Korean Supreme Court's ruling on forced labor compensation during the Japanese colonial period. Furthermore, in August, Japan excluded South Korea from its "white list," which grants simplified approval procedures for exports by Japanese companies.

The South Korean government filed a complaint with the WTO on September 11 last year, but on November 22 of the same year, to resolve the Korea-Japan conflict through dialogue, South Korea suspended the effect of its notification to terminate the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan, which was a pressure card against Japan, and also halted the WTO complaint procedure.

Since then, South Korea has addressed all institutional deficiencies that Japan cited as justification for the export restrictions and demanded that Japan present a solution to the export restrictions by the end of last month. However, as Japan ultimately did not provide an active response, the government decided on June 2 to resume the WTO dispute settlement procedure and sent a request for panel establishment to the WTO Secretariat and the Japanese Mission in Geneva on the 18th.

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