Japan restricts export of raw materials for tech components to South Korea

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Japan is reportedly going to restrict the export of certain raw materials used in the production of displays and semiconductors to South Korea over a diplomatic conflict. Japan produces the lion’s share of the substances in question worldwide.

That writes Reuters on the basis of reports from the Japanese newspaper Sankei, on Sunday. These are fluorinated polyimide, photoresists and highly concentrated hydrogen fluoride. Japan would revoke South Korea’s preferential status for these materials, requiring exporters to apply for a permit every time they want to ship, which takes about 90 days. An official announcement of the measure would follow Monday.

According to the Japanese newspaper, the country produces 90 percent of the world’s supply of fluorinated polyimide and photoresists and 70 percent of the highly concentrated hydrogen fluoride. This means that the measures may pose problems for South Korean tech companies such as LG, Samsung and SK Hynix.

The conflict revolves around compensation for slavery during the Second World War. The Japanese Nippon Steel then used South Korean forced workers. According to the South Korean Supreme Court, the company should compensate South Koreans for these practices, but Japan believes the case was settled as early as 1965, when the two countries first re-established diplomatic ties.

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