South Korea, Japan to meet in December for trade talks

South Korea and Japan seem to give each other an early Christmas present as both countries have agreed to hold trade talks in December, the trade ministry of South Korea confirmed on Friday.

One of the issues that will be addressed on the slated talks will be about Japan’s tighter rules on the exports of three high-tech materials to South Korea since July and its removal of Seoul from its “white-list” of countries with fast-track trade status, the ministry divulged.

On the Korean side of things, Seoul backfired against Japan by removing it from its list of fast-track trade countries, exacerbating the trade dispute which affected some of Asia’s biggest exporters.

“We will pursue dialogue with an ultimate goal to make things like the white list or three items go back the original state,” South Korean senior trade ministry official Lee Ho-hyun said.

On Thursday, officials from both countries met and planned the senior-level trade talks. The dialogue will be held in Tokyo, in mid-December as stated by the ministry official.