So just yesterday, Japan announced that it's going to restrict exports of high-tech materials to South Korea.
And such move is seen as a retaliatory measure against Seoul for its top court's rulings on Tokyo's use of Koreans as forced labor during World War II.
For more on this, we have our Foreign Affairs Ministry correspondent Lee Ji-won joining us in the studio today.
1- So first and foremost,.... walk us through the measures that were taken by Japan on Monday?
Japan's trade ministry said, starting from Thursday,... bulk licenses to export high-tech materials used in smartphones and chips to South Korea will no longer be valid.
This means exporters will have to apply for individual export licenses every time, meaning it'll be harder for South Korea to buy those products.
The restricted items are fluorine polyimide, which is used as a liquid crystal display component in TVs and smartphones,... and resists and etching gas used in making semiconductors.
The ministry also said it will gather public comments on getting South Korea taken off the list of so-called "white countries" recognized for having minimum restrictions on trade.
Japan accounts for about 90-percent of the global production of fluorinated polyimide and resist,... while taking up 70-percent of the world's etching gas production.
So the measure is likely to deal a significant blow to South Korea's tech giants, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
2- Why are they doing this... and how did the South Korean government react to the news?
Japan's trade ministry cited "significantly undermined trust" between the two countries as the reason.
Soon after the news broke, South Korean officials from related ministries held a meeting and said the government will take necessary countermeasures,... including possibly taking this to the WTO.
Let's have a listen.
"The Korean government held a ministers' meeting Monday morning... to examine the situation and our responses. Going forward, the government will take the necessary countermeasures. One measure being considered is filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization."
But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an interview with Yomiuri Shimbun published earlier on Tuesday that the move does not violate WTO regulations and it has nothing to do with free trade, hinting the move is a result of the South Korean Supreme Court's forced labor ruling.
Tokyo has repeatedly threatened South Korea that it would take economic measures if Seoul did not resolve the forced labor ruling in a satisfactory way.
3- This "forced labor ruling" has been a bone of contention between the two sides since late last year.
Give us a recap on this.
Late 2018, South Korea's Supreme Court ordered two Japanese companies -- Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries -- to compensate the now-elderly Koreans they forced into work for little or no pay during Japan's colonial rule of Korea.
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