South Korea protested on Wednesday against a Japanese plan to remove it from a Japanese list of countries Newport Pleasure that face minimum trade restrictions, saying it would undermine their decades-old economic and security cooperation and threaten free trade.
Japan's planned revision of a law to take South Korea off its so-called white list comes amid a deepening row over compensation for wartime forced labor, and after Japan tightened curbs this month on exports to South Korea of high-tech materials used for making memory chips and display panels.
South Korea's industry ministry said in a statement Japan's removal of South Korea from the list would be a very grave Newport Cigarettes Shop that would undermine their economic and security partnership.
It asked Japan to scrap the plan, flagging concerns over wider disruptions of global supply chains involving South Korean chip and screen makers.
"It is a very grave matter that shakes the foundation of South Korea-Japan economic partnership and Northeast Asian security cooperation that has been maintained and developed for more than 60 years," Sung Yoon-mo, the South Korean industry minister, told a briefing.