South Korea has excluded Japan from its "white list" of export destinations, a statement by South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.
"The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has published the revision of the nation’s trade controls on strategic items in an official gazette and it took effect from Wednesday," the ministry's spokesperson said in a statement, according to the Korea Herald.
In July, Japan introduced restrictions on exports of some high-tech materials to South Korea needed by tech companies to produce semiconductors and displays. Seoul filed a complaint against Tokyo at the World Trade Organisation over export restrictions. The following month Tokyo removed Seoul from its list of preferred trading partners.
This came after a court ruled that Japanese companies must pay reparations to Korean workers who were forced to work for the Japanese during WW II. Japan says that the bilateral treaty signed in 1965 fully resolved the matter.