US to support South Korea, Japan efforts to end dispute

Source:Reuters Published: 2019/7/17 20:38:41

The US will "do what it can do" to help defuse a worsening political and economic dispute between South Korea and Japan, a senior US diplomat said on Wednesday, as South Korea warned that the row would have global repercussions.

The US has been hesitant to publicly wade into the feud between its allies, but the dispute, which threatens global supplies of memory chips and smartphones, has overshadowed the visit by David Stilwell, the top US diplomat for East Asia policy.

Stilwell told reporters in the South Korean capital, Seoul, that he took the situation seriously but did not elaborate on what steps Washington might take and said fundamentally it was up to South Korea and Japan to resolve their differences.

"We hope that resolution will happen soon," he said.

"The US, as a close friend and ally to both, will do what it can do to support their efforts to resolve it."

Last week, Stilwell had told Japan's NHK broadcaster the US would not intervene in the dispute, and instead encouraged dialogue between Washington's two biggest allies in Asia to settle it.

Simmering tension, particularly over the issue of compensation for South Koreans forced to work for Japanese occupiers during World War II, took a sharp turn for the worse this month, when Japan restricted exports of high-tech materials to South Korea.

Japan has denied that the dispute over compensation is behind the export curbs, even though one of its ministers cited broken trust with South Korea over the labour dispute in announcing the restrictions.

Instead, Japan has cited "inadequate management" of sensitive items exported to South Korea.



Posted in: ASIA-PACIFIC

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