August 3, 2019

With regard to the decision of the Abe cabinet to remove South Korea from its “white list” of countries entitled to expedite the procedure of export trade controls, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on August 2 issued a statement calling for the withdrawal of the decision. The full text of the statement is as follows:

Shii Kazuo
Chair, Japanese Communist Party
Member of the House of Representatives of Japan
Tokyo
August 2, 2019

The Abe cabinet approved today the order to remove the Republic of Korea (ROK) from its “white list” of countries entitled to expedite the procedure of export trade controls. This decision goes against the principle of the separation of politics and economics, as a means to resolve the political issue of wartime “forced laborers” using trade control as a retaliatory measure.

It is extremely regrettable that they made this decision despite our party’s warning against it.

It is gravely concerned that the measures taken this time, following the enforcement of the tighter export controls over semiconductor related materials, will have a severely damaging impact on relations between Japan and South Korea.

The JPC urgently demands that the Abe administration withdraw this cabinet decision and resolve the issue by holding negotiations with South Korea in a level-headed manner.