Setting aside their usual bickering, South Korean liberal and conservative parties on Thursday vowed to cooperate to help the Seoul government prevail in an escalating trade row with Japan. After a meeting between the parties' leaders and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Seoul's presidential office, they announced plans to create a "pan-national" emergency body to respond to tighter Japanese trade controls on certain technology exports to South Korea. South Korean political leaders urged Japan to immediately withdraw the measures they described as "unjust economic retaliation" that would seriously harm bilateral relations and cooperation. Seoul has accused Tokyo of weaponizing trade to retaliate against South Korean court rulings calling for Japanese companies to compensate aging South Korean plaintiffs for forced labor during World War II, and plans to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization. South Korea is also bracing for the possibility that Japan will take further steps by removing it from a 27-country "whitelist" receiving preferential treatment in trade.

Source: ABC News July 18, 2019 12:33 UTC