President Moon Jae-in on Aug. 8 discusses Japan's economic sanctions on Korea in a meeting with a national economic advisory council at Cheong Wa Dae. (Cheong Wa Dae)
By Xu Aiying and Lee Hana
President Moon Jae-in on Aug. 8 repeated his criticism of Japan's delisting of Korea from a whitelist of trusted trading partners, urging Tokyo to reverse its decision as soon as possible.
In a meeting of a national economic advisory council at Cheong Wa Dae, he called the sanctions "economic retaliation" over rulings by the Korean Supreme Court in favor of wartime forced labor victims and criticized Japan for playing a "game with no winner."
Adding that tying the rulings with an economic issue breaches the democratic principle of separating the legislature, administration and judiciary, the president said, "Any time a country uses its superiority as a weapon, it disrupts the international order of free trade."
"Export controls also break down the structure of the global division of labor. The entire world has expressed concern on this matter. Eventually, Japan will lose the international community's trust and Japanese companies will also lose their market."
The president then told the council that Korea should use this emergency as a chance to review the state of the Korean economy and improve the domestic industrial ecosystem "for a better future."
The council, which provides consultation to the president on issues related to government policy and the economy, held its first meeting in eight months. Cheong Wa Dae announced that the purpose of the emergency session was getting feedback on Japan's sanctions from experts in academia and industry.