South Korean President Yoon said he would restore Japan’s place in the trade whitelist after his meeting in Tokyo last week with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida. Yoon called the decision crucial for bolstering supply chains in key sectors. He added that the two countries should make efforts to remove barriers that damage the development of bilateral ties. South Korea and Japan removed each other from the list in 2019 amid a decades-old row over a 2018 South Korean court order for Japanese companies to compensate forced laborers during Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of Korea.

“I will preemptively order our trade minister today to begin necessary legal procedures to have Japan back on our white list,” Yoon told in a cabinet meeting. “I’m sure Japan will respond if South Korea first starts removing the obstacles.”

South Korea’s 2018 ruling was criticized by Japan, who said the issue was resolved under a 1965 treaty that normalized relations, and the strained ties caused concerns over U.S.-led efforts to bolster cooperation to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

Yoon, who took office in May, has pledged to fix the bilateral ties and visited Tokyo last week for the first time in 12 years as a South Korean leader.

Yoon is pushing to resolve the forced labour feud through a plan unveiled this month under which a public foundation, funded by South Korean companies, would pay compensation.

The plan was welcomed by Tokyo but faced criticism at home from opposition lawmakers, who accused Yoon of capitulating to Tokyo.

Yoon said that some people would seek political gain by fuelling “hostile nationalism and anti-Japan sentiment,” without naming them, but that it was irresponsible to do so as the president.

He also accused his predecessor’s government of leaving relations in a “quagmire” at the expense of crucial economic, security and people-to-people exchanges.