South Korea's five largest economic groups ask Japan to withdraw trade restrictions

As there is a high possibility that the Japanese government will remove South Korea from the list of white countries, South Korea's five major economic groups are worried that it will cause a full-scale economic war. Therefore, they issued a joint statement on the 23rd, hoping that the Japanese government will withdraw the measures.

According to South Korean media ZDNet Korea, senior executives of South Korea's five major economic groups, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Employers Association, the Small and Medium Business Council, and the Korea Business Federation, held an economic policy consultation meeting in Seoul on the morning of the 23rd to discuss the impact of Japan's export restrictions and submitted an opinion to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan to revoke the amendment to the Export Trade Management Order.

South Korean media "Culture Daily" pointed out that the opinion letter stated that the Japanese government's export restrictions on South Korea were inappropriate and the two countries urgently needed to establish friendly relations in the future. Not only that, the opinion letter also mentioned that if Japan implements the export trade management order, it will squeeze the free trade principles that Japan and South Korea insist on. In the past, the two countries effectively carried out export restrictions and management based on not damaging free trade, and this revision should also be reconsidered in this context.

On the other hand, Japan's amendment will not only affect the business of the two countries, but may also affect the global industry. The Cultural Daily pointed out that Japan and South Korea have formed a unique complementary industry and trade structure through a special division of labor over the past 60 years, and have also become core members of the global industrial chain. The opinion also mentioned that in order to ensure the dominance of future industries and services and to cope with fierce global competition, the Japan-South Korea cooperation relationship is more important, and Japan needs to withdraw the amendment.

In addition to submitting opinions and jointly issuing a declaration on the same day, the five major economic groups also discussed countermeasures to the Japanese government's restrictive policies toward South Korea, and will actively reach out to Japan through the Internet and launch activities in the future.