Japan’s July sales of chip-making gas to South Korea fall 84%

TOKYO: Japanese exports to South Korea of hydrogen fluoride gas, vital to semiconductor manufacturing, slumped by 84% in July compared with the previous month, according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance.

Japan last month stepped up monitoring of exports to South Korea of the gas and two other materials used in the tech industry, citing national security concerns. The move ratcheted up tensions between the neighbors and was followed by Tokyo removing South Korea from a list of trusted export destinations that benefit from less-strict monitoring of sales on a broad range of products.