Japan maintains stance on planned export curbs on S. Korea: minister

TOKYO -- Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Hiroshige Seko said on Wednesday that the Japanese government has maintained its stance to remove South Korea from a list of nations entitled to simplified export procedures.

Japan has already tightened regulations earlier this month on its export to South Korea of three materials vital to make memory chips and display panels, which are the mainstay of the South Korean export.

The government will decide whether to exclude South Korea from the list as early as Friday at a cabinet meeting.

Seko told reporters that Japan will carry out necessary procedures as planned and has explained in detail to relevant countries in terms of trade management and security.

Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denied a media report that the United States has called on Japan and South Korea to hold talks to ease a bilateral row.

Suga said at a press conference on Wednesday that the report is "not true", adding there has been no such proposal from the United States.

According to Suga, there is no change in Japan's stance that it will continue to urge South Korea to take appropriate measures based on a consistent stance.

He stressed that Japan has repeatedly informed the United States of its stance, and is working closely with Washington at all times. He added that the Japanese government will continue efforts so the United States has the correct understanding of its stance.

Seoul argues that Japan's moves were retaliation over South Korean court decisions ordering Japanese firms to compensate for wartime labor.

Tokyo insists that the planned removal is meant to address security concerns and compensation issues related to its former colonial rule over what is now South Korea were settled in a 1965 bilateral agreement "finally and completely."