Japanese Government to Strengthen International Litigation System... Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Establish Dedicated Department

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The Japanese government is hastening to reorganize related organizations to strengthen its ability to respond to international litigation cases involving disputes between countries. This is interpreted as a measure to secure economic interests amid a series of disputes with countries such as Korea.

On the 29th, Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Japanese government plans to establish an "Economic Dispute Resolution Division" within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' International Law Bureau, which is dedicated to international litigation, and expand the personnel of the "Economic Section" in the National Security Agency (NSA), which serves as the secretariat for the National Security Council (NSC) and is responsible for economic security policy, from the current 20 members to 30 members next year.

Japan has recently been embroiled in a series of international disputes over economic issues. It is in conflict at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over South Korea's shipbuilding industry support policies and export regulations. Earlier, in April last year, Japan lost a WTO dispute against South Korea regarding the ban on imports of seafood from Fukushima and other areas affected by the 2011 nuclear accident.

In addition, in 2014, Japan lost a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Australia over whaling in the Antarctic Ocean under the pretext of research. As Japan has suffered multiple defeats in international disputes like these, voices calling for enhancing litigation capabilities have grown louder.

The Japanese government is preparing talent development measures in this field and promoting organizational restructuring. The "International Economic Dispute Resolution Office" under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Economic Bureau will be promoted to a division and transferred under the International Law Bureau to accumulate case law information and respond to international litigation cases. Yomiuri analyzed that this is to enable integrated responses from political, economic, and international law perspectives in cooperation with related ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Furthermore, the Japanese government plans to increase the NSA Economic Section, launched in April, by 10 members next year to a total of 30 and strengthen it to a 50-member system within the next three years. Yomiuri reported that Japan's expansion of the NSA Economic Section reflects the need to strengthen strategic response capabilities to economic disputes and the growing importance of economic security amid the US-China hegemony struggle over IT fields such as 5G.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also plans to reorganize the "New Security Challenges Policy Office" under the Comprehensive Diplomatic Policy Bureau into the "Economic Security Policy Office" to strengthen the cooperation system with the NSA Economic Section.

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