Japan, South Korea find ‘common ground’ in trade dispute talks

The first meeting between senior Japanese and South Korean trade officials since Japan imposed controls on exports of high-technology materials to its neighbor ended hours later than scheduled on Monday, with the two saying they had reached “common ground” and agreeing to talk again.

Testy relations between the two US allies sank to a new low in July after Japan imposed the curbs on exports to South Korea of three materials used to make semiconductors, threatening a pillar of its economy and the global supply chain of chips.

Japan cited its concern about insufficient South Korean controls on the materials for the move in July, although the curbs came as relations soured over a dispute over Japan’s wartime actions.

Yoichi Iida, director-general at the Japanese trade ministry’s trade control department, and his South Korean counterpart Lee Ho-Hyeon, met in Tokyo for the first senior-level bilateral talks in three-and-a-half years.

The two made no comment as they shook hands at the beginning of their meeting, but the talks ran more than three hours over schedule and Japanese trade minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said there was “progress”, adding the next dialogue would be held in Seoul in the near future.

“These policy talks were the first ones for three-and-a-half years, and we verified each others’ position,” Kajiyama told reporters in brief, late-night remarks after the talks broke up. “We’ll make a judgment after building on this.”