To understand the context of this situation, it is necessary to recall the main stages of the dispute between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan, which ultimately led to mutual sanctions. In 2018, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to Korean workers forcibly mobilized for the production of these companies during World War II, when the Korean peninsula was under Japanese occupation. In the event of non-payment, arrest and confiscation of the assets of Japanese companies in Korea were contemplated.
<p class="">In Tokyo, this court decision caused outrage, since the Japanese believe that all compensation issues were resolved by concluding an agreement on the restoration of diplomatic relations in 1965, when Japan paid a large sum for the damage caused. In July 2019, the Japanese government decided to impose de facto economic sanctions against South Korea. South Korea has been removed from the list of most favored nation (MFN) countries. In addition, the procedures for supplying three types of raw materials and semi-finished products from Japan to South Korea, necessary for the production of semiconductors, were complicated. Although the actual economic damage to Seoul was not great, it caused a storm of outrage and strong anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea. As a result, the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan took mirror measures, depriving Japan of MFN state status.</p><p class="">Relations between Seoul and Tokyo were frozen until the conservatives came to power in South Korea in May 2022, led by President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Seok-yeol, determined to cooperate with Japan and not not focus on problematic issues. In bilateral summits held in March and May this year, first in Tokyo and then in Seoul, ROK President Yoon Seok-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to settle the dispute over compensation. . In fact, the Koreans gave in a bit on principle, accepting that workers' compensation should be paid from a common fund, which was created from "voluntary donations from companies in both countries". This paved the way for the lifting of mutual sanctions and the development of cooperation. In March, Japan issued a simplified procedure for exporting three types of raw materials and semi-finished products for the production of semiconductors to Korea, and on April 24, the Koreans reassigned the status of State with an MFN in the Land of the Rising Sun.</p><p class="">According to South Korean media, citing a Japanese government statement, an executive order was passed today at a cabinet meeting on June 27 to amend the Export and Foreign Trade Management Ordinance. The main innovation is that South Korea has reverted to the number of countries that have been granted most-favoured-nation treatment (the so-called "white list"). Thus, when processing exports, the time for verification and approval is reduced from 15 to 5 days, and if it is necessary to obtain permission to export a number of goods of strategic importance or other , the number of documents provided is reduced from five to three types. A number of other bureaucratic procedures that complicated the supply of products from Japan to Korea have also been rolled back. This decree of the Japanese government will be published on June 30 and will officially come into effect on July 21 this year.</p>
<p>Thus, it can be said that after four years of disputes, mutual accusations and sanctions, Japan and South Korea were able to reconcile, which was greatly facilitated by the position of the new government of the Republic of Kazakhstan , as well as the line of the United States, which did not like its two main allies in the region to constantly argue. It should be noted that the rapprochement between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Japan can also be observed in other areas, especially the military-political one. After a long period of rejection, South Korea now agrees to conduct joint military maneuvers with Japan and the United States and implement other defense cooperation measures, allowing the establishment of a trilateral U.S.-South Korea-Japan military alliance in East Asia under Washington's leadership.</p>
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