Japan plans to tighten restrictions on the export of high-tech materials used in smartphones and chips to South Korea from July 4 in connection with the dispute over the South Korean forced labor decree in wartime. The document states that the materials to be restricted are fluorinated polyimide, which is used in smartphone displays, as well as resist and high-purity hydrogen fluoride, which is used as a pickling gas in the manufacture of semiconductors.
Japan will end preferential treatment for these three materials for South Korea, which means that Japanese exporters will need to apply for export permission every time they want to go to South Korea, which takes about 90 days, the document says.
The Sankei newspaper reported that the conflict between Japan and South Korea erupted in October last year, when the Supreme Court of South Korea ruled that Japanese Nippon Steel should compensate South Koreans for forced labor during World War II.
Japan produces about 90% of fluorine-containing polyimide and resists around the world, as well as about 70% of pickling gas, which makes it difficult for the chip to find manufacturers of alternative materials, the document says, pointing to the potential impact on Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics in South Korea.
