▲ news.sbs.co.kr

The Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Energy, which overseas Japan's industry and trade, excluded South Korea from the comprehensive export license for three items of fluorinated polyimide, resist and hydrogen fluoride which is an etching gas on July 3rd. These items are used in the semiconductor industry, which is mostly imported from Japan. Also, the Japanese government is considering expanding items to tighten export regulations on South Korea. If Japan continues to restrict exports, both South Korea and Japan will suffer greatly. A Japanese government official cited the possibility that raw materials exported to South Korea could be diverted to sarin, a toxic gas, as a reason for restricting exports. Japan has raised concerns over the use of sarin gas as a reason for its export restrictions on South Korea, as well as growing criticism from within and outside of the country. The Japanese government took measures to regulate exports, including semiconductor materials, on July 1st, citing damage to bilateral trust relations. However, when critics in Japan criticized the decision as a "de facto retaliatory measure" against the Supreme Court's ruling on forced labor, they cited security reasons without elaborating. The Japanese government raised concerns over the use of sarin gas for security reasons. This is seen as a measure for touching Japanese sentiment to sink the criticism of Japan media and make them support the government.

▲ http://www.hani.co.kr

However, there is a problem to be explained about export restriction. The material that Japan claims that can be used as "sarin gas" is etching gas. This etching gas is a high purity fluoride with 99.999 percent purity. Experts say that while it is true that hydro fluoride can produce biochemical weapons like sarin gas, there is no reason to use high-purity hydrogen though it is possible to produce hydrogen fluoride, which has a relatively low purity of 97 percent.

▲ newsinside.kr

July 21st, 2019

by 박정헌