S.KOREA SAYS JAPAN COMPLAINS TO GATT ON TRADE PLAN
Japan has complained to the secretariat
of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that South
Korea's five-year plan to cut its trade deficit with Japan
breaks GATT rules, Trade Ministry officials here said.
    They said Japan submitted a report earlier this month
alleging South Korea's plan to import less from Japan and more
from the U.S. And elsewhere was tantamount to creating
non-tariff trade barriers.
    South Korea unveiled the plan in November. It said it hoped
to narrow its trade deficit with Japan to two billion dlrs by
1991.
    South Korea's trade deficit with Japan was a record 5.45
billion dlrs in 1986, and rose to 752 mln dlrs in the first two
months of 1987 from 727 mln in the same 1986 period.
    The plan envisages giving incentives to importers not to
import Japanese goods, and to exporters to sell more to Japan.
    The officials said they believed the Japanese action, one
step short of filing a suit, was designed to bring South Korea
to the negotiating table and stop the plan.
    The Seoul government wants Tokyo to ease various import
restrictions and simplify customs inspections for South Korean
goods to help reduce the trade deficit.
 REUTER
