Earlier this morning,,... Japan decided to drop South Korea from its list of trusted trading partners,... a move that could escalate already high tensions between Seoul and Tokyo.
For more on this, we now connect to our Kim Mok-yeon at the News Center.
Mok-yeon, tell us more about Japan's announcement.

Yes Ji-yoon, in a meeting held at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official residence at around 10AM, the Japanese Cabinet decided to EXCLUDE South Korea from its whitelist of 27 countries given preferential treatment in trade procedures.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Japan's trade minister Hiroshige Seko said that Japan's Cabinet passed an ordinance on excluding South Korea from its trade whitelist.
As for the reasons, the minister stressed that the decision came as part of Japan's efforts to reexamine its management system, claiming that South Korea is loose in its management of export controls.

"Our latest decision came with the basis that South Korea was inadequate in its export controls, and that we wanted to take appropriate measures to manage our exports. We completely did not intend to influence our ties with Seoul, and it's not an act of retaliation against anything."

Soon after, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also reiterated that the measures were not financial regulations, aimed at souring ties, and that its treatment of trade with South Korea would only change to a level similar to other Asian countries outside of the whitelist.
Suga also said that the measures will be made public on Wednesday, and that it will officially come into effect on the 28th of August, after Japan's Emperor Naruhito makes a proclamation.

Now today's decision is feared to cause significant delays and disruptions to imports from Japan, as Japanese exporters will need individual authorization, rather than fast-track approval, for exports of more than a thousand dual-use items to South Korea.

Well, this latest move would affect the South Korean economy for sure,... but can you give us more background on how this situation developed?

Sure, Japan's latest decision comes amid concerns over heightened tensions between Seoul and Tokyo, in the aftermath of Japan's announcement of export curbs on key high tech materials last month.
On July 1st, the Japanese government announced... it would slap export restrictions on Korea,... on parts needed to make semiconductors and computer displays,… such as photo-resists and etching gas.
Many speculate that the export curbs are a sign of retaliation against South Korea's Supreme Court rulings last year that state Japanese firms SHOULD compensate Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's colonization of the peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Japan has clearly rejected such allegations claiming that the measures were... NOT related to the forced labor and that they are simply for the country's export management related to national security.
South Korea has been calling for the withdrawal of July's export cur