Export Controls: Ministry Official and Spanish Capital

export controls: Kang called for the quick withdrawal of the stricter regulations Japan imposed on exports to its neighbor of materials needed to manufacture semiconductors and display panels, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry, according to The Japan Times. The two ministers shared an expectation of progress on the export controls issue during a director general-level meeting that began in Tokyo on Monday morning, the Japan Foreign Ministry official said. Motegi and Kang held talks for around 10 minutes in the Spanish capital on the sidelines of a ministerial conference of Asian and European countries, amid ongoing bilateral tension over the issue. ; The two also discussed export controls and North Korea's nuclear program. RELATED STORIESChina to host trilateral leaders' summit with Japan and South Korea on Dec. 24Japan's 2012 'comfort women' proposal included apology to victims by envoy, ex-officials say The brief meeting came as ties between the neighboring countries remained at their lowest point in years over the wartime labor dispute and trade controls. While Japan argues that the issue of compensation was settled finally and completely by a 1965 bilateral agreement, the court said personal claims are still valid. Relations soured after South Korea's Supreme Court ruled last year that Japanese companies should compensate those subject to forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.