South Korea's imports of materials, parts and equipment from Japan in the first half of this year slightly exceeded 15-percent recording the lowest level in 10 years. According to the Trade Ministry on Wednesday the country's imports of Japanese materials, parts and equipment came to just over 20-billion US dollars or 15.4 percent of total imports in the first half of this year.
The latest figure is also nearly 9-percent lower compared to the same period 10 years ago. The downward trend has been more evident since 2019 when Japan imposed export restrictions on South Korea. However the current Yoon administration hopes to improve trade ties moving forward as South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin requested that Japan withdraw the restrictions during his meeting with his Japanese counterpart earlier this week.