Our top story this afternoon... little progress was made on Friday, during the first working-level talks between South Korea and Japan... over Tokyo's export curbs on high-tech materials to Seoul.
At the 6-hour long meeting held in Tokyo, Japan reaffirmed its stance, that its export restrictions do not violate WTO rules... and is not a retaliation over South Korea's Supreme Court's ruling on wartime forced labor.
Instead, it said the curbs were introduced... in response to Seoul's lack of export control on key strategic items.
South Korean officials countered by saying Seoul's export control is tighter than Japan's,... and stressed that imposing restrictions on such short notice was improper.
Seoul's trade ministry proposed follow-up talks with Japan before July 24,... as Japan is reviewing a list of new restrictions,... and is set to make its decision on removing South Korea from its export white list by then.