According to South Korean media reports, the South Korean government met in Congress today to discuss economic policies in the second half of the year. The ruling party officials said after the meeting that they are promoting an annual investment of about 860 million US dollars in research and development plans for semiconductor materials, parts and equipment. Officials pointed out that the authorities had already prepared relevant measures as early as a few months ago and will announce details this month.

In addition, the Korean Ministry of Trade has begun to review the WTO regulations and consider filing a complaint. Officials pointed out: “We believe that Japan’s measures may be identified as export control actions prohibited by the WTO, and relevant departments have begun administrative operations.”

The South Korean side also intends to lodge a complaint against the WTO and formulate countermeasures against the Japanese government’s announcement that it will launch two-phase export controls against South Korea.

It is understood that in the first phase, the Japanese government restricted the export of high-tech materials to South Korea in three main categories. The first one is fluoropolyimide used to make mobile phone display screens; The second is high-purity hydrogen fluoride used to etch chips in IC manufacturing; the third is photoresist. The second phase, which is expected to start in August, will remove South Korea from the white list of security-friendly countries.