Japan to relist S. Korea as preferred trade country in July

Japan will relist South Korea as a preferred trade partner on July 21 after a similar move by Seoul on Tokyo’s trade status, the Japanese government said Tuesday in the latest sign of a thaw in bilateral relations.

The actions mark the normalization of trade between the two countries after their ties worsened to their lowest point in decades over wartime history.

The 2019 removal of South Korea from a “white list” of countries entitled to receive minimum restrictions on trade came after South Korea’s Supreme Court in the previous year ordered two Japanese firms to compensate Korean plaintiffs ...