SEOUL - South Korean President Moon Jae-in warned top business leaders of an extended battle with Japan over its export controls on vital manufacturing materials, raising concerns their latest fight could disrupt global supply chains.
"Our government is forming a response system demanding Japan to withdraw its unfair export limit measures with a sense of urgency," Mr Moon said in Seoul, calling the current situation an"unprecedented emergency". The dispute has moved into the economic arena what the two see as proper contrition for Japan's colonial rule over the Korean peninsula. Past fights have mostly kept industries on both sides out of the fray but the worry now is that tensions between the major trading partners and US allies could spiral out of control.
Japan is also considering removing South Korea from a list of trusted export markets, a move that could affect a broader swath of products.