Japan tells South Korea officials export curbs are not countermeasures By Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s industry ministry said on Friday officials briefed their South Korean counterparts on Japanese export restrictions and reiterated that they were not countermeasures in a row over the issue of forced wartime labor.

South Korean officials did not ask that Japan withdraw the export restrictions, a Japanese ministry official told reporters, after a meeting between the two sides that lasted more than five hours.

Japan also told the South Korean officials that South Korea’s trade control system was “vulnerable”.