Parliament passes resolution urging Japan to withdraw export curbs

SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Yonhap) -- The National Assembly on Friday passed a resolution calling on Japan to withdraw its export curbs against South Korea in a unanimous vote during a plenary meeting. The move came after Tokyo approved the removal of South Korea from a "whitelist" of trusted trading partners at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day in what Seoul views as additional economic retaliatory measures over a historical issue. Japan began restricting exports to South Korea of high-tech materials vital in making chips and displays on July 4 in an apparent protest against South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor. The four-point resolution on Japan was adopted by the parliamentary foreign affairs committee last week. In the resolution, South Korean lawmakers voiced "deep" regret that Japan's move hampers Seoul-Tokyo ties and hurts the global free trade order. They also called for diplomatic solutions to the trade spat. "The National Assembly sternly rejects Japan's retaliatory export curbs against South Korea following Korean court rulings over Tokyo's wartime forced labor," the resolution stated. sooyeon@yna.co.kr (END)