Japan conveys objection to Trump's plan to add South Korea to G-7

[soryang]

Japan conveys objection to Trump's plan to add South Korea to G-7
KYODO NEWS KYODO NEWS - 9 hours ago -

Japan has conveyed to the United States its objection to President Donald Trump's idea of adding South Korea to the Group of Seven summit, saying Seoul is not in lockstep with G-7 members on China and North Korean issues, diplomatic sources said Saturday.

The message was conveyed by a high-level Japanese government official immediately after Trump on May 30 broached the idea of inviting Australia, India, Russia and South Korea to this year's summit that he will preside over. The U.S. government told the official that Trump would make a final decision on the issue, the sources said.

The revelation that Japan has expressed opposition to South Korea's participation is likely to upset Seoul, which has welcomed Trump's offer. It could further sour Tokyo-Seoul ties, already overshadowed by disputes over wartime history and other issues.

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https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/06/f4cef06fe71f-japan-conveys-objection-to-trumps-plan-to-add-s-korea-to-g-7.html

Abe's popularity is dropping in Japan as the country is suffering from the world wide impact of the pandemic. But Japanese suppliers to S.Korea's semiconductor industry are also suffering as Japan shot itself in the foot by taking S.Korea off its so called "white list" of preferred trading partners. After taking measures to reassure Japan that there were no security risks in supplying those raw materials, the Japanese government has not responded, and South Korea has renewed its lawsuit against Japan at the WTO for unfair trade practices. Japan has been unresponsive on trade issues, because the actions were taken as retaliation against Seoul for court decisions in private lawsuits against Japanese corporations for the exploitation of Korean workers during WWII as slave labor.

The US has said it is neutral in that "trade" dispute and it is for Japan and S.Korea to resolve among themselves. Japanese producers of semiconductor raw materials have probably permanently lost a substantial percentage of the S.Korean semiconductor manufacturing market as S.Korea has developed alternative sources of materials. In addition, the dispute aggravated the old resentments of Japanese colonial exploitation of Korea and resulted in a boycott of Japanese goods by South Korean consumers which hurt Japanese automakers and beer exporters in particular, among others. S.Korean tourism of Japan had already fallen off by about 40 percent before the pandemic. Japanese attempts to coerce South Korea are counterproductive and cannot succeed unless South Korea returns to its prior status as an authoritarian government that can force the pro-Japanese outlook on an unreceptive public.