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| David R. Stilwell, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, answers questions from reporters after arriving at the Narita International Airport on Thursday. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
A top U.S. diplomat for East Asia is visiting here to convey Washington's view that Seoul and Tokyo should seek a diplomatic solution to their burgeoning trade war.
David R. Stilwell, the new U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, will arrive in Seoul, Wednesday, to hold talks with foreign ministry officials including Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and senior presidential aides. Some analysts expect he may speak publicly about the feud.
"Stilwell will deliver Washington's message that both sides need to seek a diplomatic solution as soon as possible," a presidential aide said Tuesday. "Washington will engage in the dispute in a low-key manner, rather than actively mediating."
Before arriving in Seoul, the U.S. diplomat stayed in Tokyo for four days during which he underlined the need for the two nations to resume a process to resolve the ongoing dispute in a positive manner.
But he did not comment on whether the U.S. would take an active role. Washington is not really in a position to pick a side with either of its two key allies, according to the foreign ministry, and so may refrain from any active mediation.
It has been two weeks since Tokyo imposed export restrictions on three resource materials used by Korean tech companies, such as Samsung Electronics, in manufacturing semiconductors and display panels. The measures were seen as political retaliation against Supreme Court rulings here last year that ordered Japanese firms to compensate Koreans forced to work for them during Japan's colonial rule of the peninsula.
Political analysts in Seoul have pointed out that the two countries will only be able to settle the dispute if they come to terms with each other on this and other sensitive historic issues.
Lee Jae-min, a law professor at Seoul National University, said the only fundamental solution lies in diplomatic negotiations between Seoul and Tokyo.
"The economic friction between the two countries started from their difference in views on a diplomatic matter, so both sides should find a solution via diplomatic negotiations," Lee said in a statement published by the Korean Society of International Law.
Dispute settlement procedures by the World Trade Organization (WTO) take effect in only a limited number of cases, such as violations of international trade agreements, according to the professor.
"The WTO cannot deal effectively with advanced levels of conflicts in politics and diplomacy," Lee said. "If there are no other appropriate measures, Korea needs to utilize the WTO settlement procedures, but the fundamental solution lies in diplomatic negotiations."
The "economic retaliation" against Korea will be discussed during an upcoming WTO General Council meeting, which will convene July 23 and 24. The issue has been put on the meeting's agenda under the title "Export restrictive measures by Japan."
