SEOUL: South Korea has appealed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to determine if the Chinese government is treating South Korean companies unfairly.
Seoul claims Beijing is retaliating economically over its deployment of a US anti-missile defense system. South Korea’s Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan told parliament China “may be in violation of some trade agreements”. China opposes the deployment, saying it will affect the regional security balance and allow the US to spy on it.
Washington and Seoul say the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system is designed to protect against threats from North Korea. But it has caused significant tension with China, which is South Korea’s largest trading partner.
“The Chinese government may not admit that they took retaliatory measures against the Thaad decision, but we have to point out the possibility,” Joo said . “We are collecting evidence and will also deal with issues that South Korean companies are treated unfairly in China.”
South Korea complained about China to the WTO over the issue on Friday, Joo said.