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Korea refuses Japan's call to form arbitration panel

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A police officer stands guard near Japanese and South Korean national flags at a hotel, where the South Korean embassy in Japan is holding a reception to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of ties between Seoul and Tokyo, in Tokyo, June 22, 2015. Reuters-Yonhap
A police officer stands guard near Japanese and South Korean national flags at a hotel, where the South Korean embassy in Japan is holding a reception to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of ties between Seoul and Tokyo, in Tokyo, June 22, 2015. Reuters-Yonhap

By Park Ji-won, Jung Da-min

Japan is likely to continue to pressure Seoul over a dispute on wartime forced labor, and is considering bringing it to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after Seoul's apparent rejection of Tokyo's Thursday deadline to respond to its call for the formation of an arbitration panel including a third country.

"The South Korean government is obliged to respond to Japan's proposal to form an arbitration panel involving a third country under the 1965 Tokyo-Seoul agreement by Thursday, which is the deadline. The Japanese government will continue to strongly urge the South's government to accept the arbitration plan," Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters during a regular briefing in Tokyo, Thursday.

Regarding South Korea's response to Japan's request, he said "It is not true that there was an answer from the South Korean side that it would not accept an arbitration proposal."

The remarks are seen as reflecting Japan's determination to take countermeasures following South Korea's rejection of its proposal. Cheong Wa Dae rejected Japan's proposal Tuesday. The panel cannot be made without the agreement of the South, according to diplomatic sources, meaning it is not obliged to reply to Japan's request.

Japan has enacted export restrictions of key manufacturing components to Korea, seemingly in retaliation to the Korean Supreme Court's decision ordering Japanese firms to compensate South Koreans forced to work in Japanese factories during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

Japan is expected to officially criticize South Korea's rejection on Friday while considering taking various measures including imposing further trade regulations and going to the ICJ, according to diplomatic sources.

It has been a priority for Japan to take the dispute with Korea to the ICJ, but Japanese media said Japan has decided to postpone it for a while and is considering various moves intended to claim legitimacy in the international community.

The Sankei Shimbun reported on Tuesday that Japan decided not to rush to the ICJ, but is planning to appeal to the international community about Korea's unfairness and take corresponding measures to handle the liquidation of Japanese firms in South Korea.

Public broadcaster NHK reported Thursday that once the deadline passes, Japan will continue to urge Seoul to come up with appropriate measures to end the dispute while preparing for countermeasures including bringing the case to the ICJ.

Meanwhile, a report by a U.S. research institute showed that South Korea ranked 17th among 200 countries surveyed in terms of the effectiveness of national strategic trade controls, while Japan ranked 36th.

The Peddling Peril Index for 2019, published in May by U.S. think tank Institute for Science and International Security, assessed strategic trade controls of the member countries to counter trafficking in nuclear, missile, weapons of mass destruction, and military-related commodities, particularly noting Iran and North Korea as countries found in violation. It noted the two countries' acquisition from abroad of a wide range of critical know-how, raw materials, equipment for their nuclear programs.

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy also refuted Japan's argument that South Korea's system is insufficient, releasing details of its "catch-all system" for the country's trade controls for security, in which exports of both strategic and nonstrategic items that could be used as part of WMDs are placed under the government's control.



Park Ji-won jwpark@koreatimes.co.kr
Jung Da-min damin.jung@koreatimes.co.kr


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