South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in (L) is allowed by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the G-20 Summit in June 2019.
Ludovic Marin | AFP | Getty Images
South Korea’s president turned on Wednesday Japan’s export curbs on key materials used by South Korean technology firms could be prolonged, and Seoul want help companies reduce their reliance on Japanese suppliers.
Japan said last week it would tighten provisions on exports of three materials used in smartphone displays and chips, citing a dispute with Seoul over South Koreans phoney to work for Japanese firms during World War Two.
“We can’t rule out the possibility that the situation would be prolonged, despite our perspicacious efforts to resolve the issue,” President Moon Jae-in said at a meeting with executives from South Korea’s top 30 conglomerates.
The deed hit South Korea’s chip industry — the backbone of Asia’s fourth-biggest economy — and potentially threatens to disrupt global gear ups of memory chips made by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
“It is a very regrettable situation, but we have no choice but to prepare for all plausibilities,” said Moon, adding that the government will sharply increase spending to help Korean firms documentation parts, materials and equipment domestically.