South Korea, Japan hold talks as diplomatic row worsens

TOKYO: Japanese and South Korean officials held hours of talks Friday to discuss a worsening diplomatic row that has prompted Washington to offer to mediate between the US allies.

The meeting between representatives from Japan´s trade ministry and South Korea´s foreign ministry ran hours longer than expected but there was no sign of a detente in the simmering dispute.

Japan last week ramped up long-running tensions over the use of forced labour during World War Two by announcing restrictions on exports used by South Korean chip and smartphone companies. The move sparked anger in Seoul, but also raised international concern about the effect on the global tech supply chain and the possibility of price hikes for consumers. Tokyo says the constraints, which apply to three chemicals as well as technology transfers, were made necessary by a "loss of trust" in relations with Seoul, but also accuses South Korea of improperly handling exports of sensitive materials from Japan.

And Japanese officials said they defended their decision in Friday´s talks. "We confirmed Japan´s safety management system on exports," a spokesperson from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry told reporters.