South Korea formally reinstated Japan to its list of countries that are given preferential trade treatment April 24. This comes after the neighboring Asian countries downgraded each other’s trade statuses in September 2019 due to diplomatic disagreements.

South Korean officials said they expect Tokyo to restore Seoul’s status as a favored trading partner soon, but they believe that process will take more time since Japan has a lengthy process for revising its export regulations. 

Additionally, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that the country’s capital plans on further restricting technological and industrial exports to Russia and Belarus as a show of support for the United States' pressure campaign against Moscow over the ongoing war in Ukraine.

South Korean trade partners are traditionally divided into two groups. White-list nations usually have a waiting period of up to five days while other countries are required to go through case-by-case reviews that can take up to 15 days.