S. Korea proposes UN probe over Japanese sanctions claims

South Korea said Friday it wants an investigation by the United Nations or another international body as it continues to reject Japanese claims that Seoul could not be trusted to faithfully implement sanctions against North Korea.

A port filled with container ships in the southeastern port city of Busan, South Korea, January 27, 2017. [File photo: IC]

Kim You-geun, deputy director of South Korea's presidential national security office, said South Korea has been thoroughly implementing U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. He demanded that Japan provide evidence for claims made by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his conservative aides that there may have been illegal transfers of sensitive materials from South Korea to North Korea.

Tokyo last week tightened the approval process for Japanese shipments of photoresists and other sensitive materials to South Korea, saying such materials can be exported only to trustworthy trading partners. The move, which could potentially hurt South Korean technology companies that manufacture semiconductors and display screens used in TVs and smartphones, has triggered a full-blown diplomatic dispute between the countries that further soured relations long troubled over Japan's brutal colonial rule of Korea before the end of World War II.

Kim said the Seoul government proposes Japan accept an inquiry by the U.N. or another international body over the export controls of both countries to end "needless arguments" and to clearly prove whether the Japanese claims are true or not.

He said South Korea has been imposing stringent export controls on arms and sensitive materials that can be used for both civilian and military purposes as a signatory of major international pacts that govern such transactions.

"If the result of the investigation reveals that our government did something wrong, our government will apologize for it and immediately apply measures to correct it," said Kim, reading a prepared statement on live TV.

"If the result shows that our government has done nothing wrong, the Japanese government should not only apologize but also immediately withdraw the exports restrictions that have the characteristics of a (political) retaliation. There also should be a thorough investigation on (any) Japanese violation," he said.

South Korea, an export-dependent economy that is the world's biggest supplier of computer chips and displays, sees the Japanese trade curbs as retaliation for South Korean court rulings that ordered Japanese firms to compensate aging South Korean plaintiffs for forced labor during World War II.

It plans to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization and has denied the Japanese allegations that it allowed sensitive materials to reach North Korea. The Foreign Ministry in Seoul summoned a Japanese Embassy official on Monday to protest Abe's comments that questioned the credibility of Seoul's sanctions implementation.

South Korea's trade minister on Tuesday said an "emergency inspection" of companies that process and export the chemicals imported from Japan found no sign of illegal transactions allowing them to reach North Korea or any other country affected by United Nations sanctions.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, export officials from both sides sat down together on Friday for the first time since the crisis erupted.

The meeting started in an icy atmosphere, with officials skipping handshakes and staring at each other across the table in silence for several minutes amid ceaseless clicks of camera shutters. The officials made no comments immediately.

The statement from Seoul's presidential Blue House came while Kim Hyun-chong, another South Korean presidential official, was in Washington for meetings with officials from the White House and Congress as Seoul sought U.S. help to end its diplomatic row with Japan. Kim Hee-sang, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official, also held meetings with State Department officials in Washington.

"The U.S. side has showed a good understanding about (the issue) and expressed a desire to provide active support to resolve the problem as South Korea, the United States and Japan should work together and cooperate in the Asia-Pacific," Kim Hyun-chong told South Korean reporters after a meeting with U.S. congressional officials.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that its minister, Kang Kyung-wha, discussed the issue with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who Seoul said expressed an "understanding" of the South Korean position and agreed to facilitate communication through diplomatic channels between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.