SEOUL -- South Korea is expanding its screening team for strategic exports by 50% to 45 members on Jan. 1, in response to Japanese concerns that chipmaking chemicals shipped to the country were being leaked for military use.
The move represents an olive branch in the countries' trade spat, which began when Japan imposed tougher controls on South Korea-bound shipments of chemicals vital to semiconductor production in July. The countries has since taken each other off their whitelist of trusted trade partners.
