Name: Why are Japan and Korea in a trade war? | CNBC Explains
Uploaded: 2019-11-19T06:22:08.000Z
Duration: 8 min 55 s

程度副詞

There's a brewing trade war between two major economies that could further slow global growth and could potentially even make the price of your smartphones go up.

兩個主要經濟體之間正在醞釀的貿易戰可能會進一步減緩全球經濟增長，甚至有可能讓你的智能手機價格上漲。

But this is not the one you're thinking of.

Japan and South Korea are Asia's biggest economies after China and India, and have gained worldwide acclaim for their global brands.

日本和韓國是繼中國和印度之後的亞洲最大經濟體，其全球品牌獲得了世界性的讚譽。

But the relationship between the two powerhouses has long been strained, and now we're seeing those tensions manifest themselves in a trade dispute.

但這兩個大國之間的關係長期以來一直很緊張，現在我們看到這些緊張關係在貿易爭端中表現出來。

It all kicked off in July 2019, when Tokyo added trade restrictions on Korean companies purchasing three chemicals made in Japan.

這一切都在2019年7月拉開序幕，東京對韓國企業購買日本製造的三種化學品增加了貿易限制。

It cited Korea's "inadequate management" of the sensitive items, essentially hinting the chemicals were being sent on to unapproved countries like North Korea and Iran.

它列舉了韓國對敏感物品的 "管理不力"，實質上是暗示這些化學品被送往北韓和伊朗等未經準許的國家。

Japan produces up to 90% of the world's supply of these chemicals, which are often used in making semiconductors and display screens.

日本生產的這些化學品佔世界供應量的90%，常用於製造半導體和顯示屏。

Semiconductors are critical for making major components of today's electronic products, like your smartphone.

半導體是製造當今電子產品（如智能手機）主要部件的關鍵。

That makes the chemicals vital to South Korea's economy, which is home to semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

這使得這些化學品對韓國的經濟至關重要，韓國是半導體巨頭三星電子和SK海力士的所在地。

These two companies alone supplied 61% of the components used in memory chips globally.

僅這兩家公司就提供了全球61%的內存芯片所用元件。

In 2018, semiconductor sales made up 92% of Korean export growth.

2018年，半導體銷售佔韓國出口增長的92%。

Now, thanks to a perfect storm, its trade is expected to fall in 2019.

現在，由於一場完美的風暴，其交易額預計將在2019年下降。

The real bone of contention, however, goes way back in time and beyond trade.

然而，真正的爭論，要追溯到貿易之外。

Korea's modern-day resentment of the Japanese can be traced back to over a century ago,

韓國近代對日本人的怨恨可以追溯到一個多世紀前。

When the Korean peninsula was colonized by the Japanese in 1910.

1910年朝鮮半島被日本人殖民時。

During this time, many Koreans were made to work in Japanese factories and mines under poor conditions.

在此期間，許多朝鮮人被迫在條件惡劣的日本工廠和礦山工作。

Tens of thousands of women, many of them Korean, also served as "comfort women," a Japanese euphemism used to describe those forced into sex work at military brothels.

數萬名婦女，其中許多是朝鮮人，還充當了 "慰安婦"，這是日本人用來形容那些被迫在軍妓院從事性工作的人的一種委婉說法。

Korean culture, language, and history were at risk of being erased.

韓國的文化、語言和歷史都面臨著被抹殺的危險。

Japanese rule came to an end in 1945, following the Axis powers' defeat in World War II.

1945年，軸心國在二戰中戰敗後，日本的統治結束了。

After years of negotiation, the two nations signed a treaty in 1965: It aimed to resolve all colonial-era claims "completely and finally" in exchange for $800 million worth of economic aid and loans from Japan.

經過多年的談判，兩國於1965年簽署了一項條約。該條約旨在 "徹底和最終 "解決所有殖民時代的要求，以換取日本價值8億美元的經濟援助和貸款。

This amounted to more than a quarter of Korea's GDP at the time.

這相當於當時韓國GDP的四分之一以上。

But many in Asia rejected the treaty as insincere or insufficient, pointing out it did not cover sensitive issues like Korea's "comfort women.”

但亞洲許多人拒絕接受該條約，認為它沒有誠意或不足，指出它沒有涵蓋韓國 "慰安婦 "等敏感問題。

The nations attempted to settle this decades later in 2015.

數十年後的2015年，各國試圖解決這個問題。

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered his "most sincere apologies and remorse," and his government agreed to send Seoul $10 million to establish a foundation to support surviving "comfort women.”

日本首相安倍晉三提出了 "最誠摯的歉意和悔意"，日本政府同意向首爾送去1000萬美元，以建立一個基金會，支持倖存的 "慰安婦"。

As a part of the agreement, the two head of states agreed not to criticize each other over the contentious issue on an international stage anymore.

作為協議的一部分，兩國元首同意不再在國際舞臺上就爭議問題相互責備。

Many Korean civilians and interest groups were unhappy with the outcome, saying they weren't consulted during the negotiations.

許多韓國平民和利益集團對這一結果不滿，稱在談判過程中沒有徵求他們的意見。

The resentment festered and eventually escalated into several mass demonstrations on the streets of Seoul.

怨恨情緒不斷髮酵，最終升級為首爾街頭的幾次大規模示威。

Korean consumers began to boycott Japanese goods.

In 2017, Moon Jae-in became South Korea's president, and made it clear that South Koreans would not accept the 2015 deal brokered by his predecessor.

2017年，文在寅成為韓國總統，並明確表示韓國人不會接受其前任促成的2015年協議。

Resentment was growing in Japan as well, where many felt South Korea kept "moving the goal post" on the issue, making it impossible to settle colonial claims.

日本國內的怨恨也在增加，許多人認為南朝鮮一直在這個問題上 "移動門柱"，使得殖民要求無法解決。

At the end of 2018, the Japanese government was infuriated by a South Korean Supreme Court decision.

2018年底，韓國最高法院的一紙判決讓日本政府惱羞成怒。

It held Japanese companies accountable for forcing Korean workers into factories during the Second World War.

它要求日本公司對第二次世界大戰期間強迫北韓工人進廠負責。

Two companies — Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries — were ordered to compensate several Koreans for forced labor during the war.

兩家公司--新日鐵住金和三菱重工--被勒令賠償幾名韓國人在戰爭期間的強迫勞動。

It wasn't long before these tensions spread to other parts of the countries relationship, including their trade ties – which brings us back to where we left off in 2019.

不久之後，這些緊張局勢就蔓延到了兩國關係的其他方面，包括它們的貿易關係--這讓我們回到了2019年我們離開的地方。

Only a month after tightening trade exports to South Korea, Tokyo took it a step further by announcing it would remove South Korea from its white list.

在收緊對韓貿易出口後僅一個月，東京又進一步宣佈將韓國從白名單中刪除。

不久之後，首爾也做了同樣的事情。

It is a list of 27 countries – now 26 without Korea - that Japan considers to be trustworthy trade partners.

這是一份日本認為值得信賴的貿易伙伴的27個國家名單--現在有26個國家不包括韓國。

This means they won't misuse the goods they buy for unauthorized military use or resell them to sanctioned countries.

這意味著他們不會將購買的貨物濫用於未經授權的軍事用途，也不會將貨物轉賣給被制裁的國家。

The move affects more than 1,000 goods from South Korea.

此舉影響到來自韓國的1000多種商品。

Moving forward, the companies will have to go through more rigorous vetting.

今後，企業必須經過更嚴格的審核。

Approval will take longer, and goods imported from Korea to Japan will go under closer examination.

審批時間將延長，從韓國進口到日本的商品將接受更嚴格的審查。

As trade ties break down, prices of chips will go up in the short-term.

隨著貿易關係的破裂，短期內籌碼的價格將會上漲。

Samsung phone prices could potentially go up too.

And companies like Samsung and SK Hynix may be forced to look for alternative supply sources for its technology parts and materials imported from Japan.

而像三星和SK海力士這樣的公司，可能會被迫為其從日本進口的技術零部件和材料尋找其他供應來源。

But there may be a silver lining in the long run.

但從長遠來看，可能會有一線生機。

Before trade ties between both countries took a nosedive, the prices of DRAM memory chips, a common type of random access memory, were at new lows.

在兩國貿易關係出現暴跌之前，常見的一種隨機存取存儲器--DRAM內存芯片的價格已經創下新低。

This was due to an expected abundance in supply.

That slashed profits at Samsung Electronics in the company's worst drop in four years.

這在三星電子四年來最嚴重的跌幅中削減了該公司的利潤。

But when Japan tightened its export controls, supplies of DRAM chips suddenly dropped and prices went up in turn, leading to better than expected results for Samsung and other Korean manufacturers.

但當日本加強出口管制後，DRAM芯片的供應量突然下降，價格也隨之上漲，導致三星和其他韓國廠商的業績好於預期。

Experts say that Japan's trade curbs on South Korea could actually backfire and hurt the Japanese economy because many Korean companies have lost trust in Japan and may choose not to do business with Japanese firms in the future.

專家表示，日本對韓國的貿易限制實際上可能會適得其反，損害日本經濟，因為很多韓國企業已經對日本失去了信任，今後可能會選擇不與日本企業做生意。

Bilateral ties took a further hit in August: The South Korean government announced its withdrawal from a highly sensitive intelligence sharing pact.

雙邊關係在8月進一步受到打擊。韓國政府宣佈退出高度敏感的情報共享條約。

So what is the intelligence agreement, and why does it matter for global security?

那麼，什麼是情報協議，為什麼它對全球安全很重要？

The General Security of Military Information Agreement, more commonly referred to as GSOMIA, allowed the two countries to directly share information on North Korea's nuclear and missile activities, ensuring that the two U.S. allies are aligned defensively.

軍事情報總安全協議》（更多稱為GSOMIA）允許兩國直接分享有關北韓核與飛彈活動的資訊，確保美國的兩個盟友在防禦上保持一致。

It is the first intelligence-sharing agreement between the two nations since Korea's liberation from Imperial Japan in 1945.

這是自1945年北韓從日本帝國解放後，兩國簽訂的第一個情報共享協議。

It was signed in 2016, after five years of negotiation.

經過五年的談判，於2016年簽署。

The delay, according to an expert, likely came down to negative public sentiment in South Korea, and it's very likely that is what drove Seoul's withdrawal now.

有專家認為，這種延遲很可能歸結於韓國公眾的負面情緒，這很有可能是首爾現在退出的原因。

Dropping out of the intelligence sharing deal means that South Korea's government will no longer be quickly notified about irregular activities in regional waters.

退出情報共享協議，意味著韓國政府將不再迅速獲知地區海域的違規活動。

In 2019 alone, Seoul and Tokyo exchanged "classified military information" about North Korea seven times.

僅2019年，首爾和東京就7次交換有關北韓的 "機密軍事情報"。

Still, the two Asian countries can technically share intelligence through their ally, the United States.

不過，亞洲兩國在技術上還是可以通過盟友美國共享情報。

Some experts say this could create a serious lag and cause detrimental consequences for the effective monitoring of North Korea's nuclear threats.

有專家表示，這可能會造成嚴重的滯後，對有效監測北韓的核威脅造成不利後果。

Beyond military effects, a worsening Japan-Korea relationship may weaken geopolitical ties.

除了軍事影響外，日韓關係的惡化可能會削弱地緣政治關係。

The deteriorating relationship between the two neighboring countries is impacting the world's largest economies.

兩個鄰國之間的關係不斷惡化，正在影響著世界上最大的經濟體。

For one, China and the U.S. are fighting to be the mediator.

While the two largest economies are in the midst of a trade war of their own, they're doing their best to avoid a souring bond between Japan and Korea.

雖然這兩個最大的經濟體正處於各自的貿易戰中，但他們正在盡力避免日韓之間的關係惡化。

China has publicly supported a resolution to the trade tension, but at the same time, Chinese companies are positioning themselves as replacements for their Japanese counterparts.

中國公開支持解決貿易緊張局勢，但與此同時，中國企業將自己定位為日本同行的替代者。

While China could benefit from new export orders, Beijing ultimately hopes to keep the Japan-South Korea-China free trade agreement negotiations on track, but that will be unlikely as tension escalates.

雖然中國可能會從新的出口訂單中受益，但北京最終希望保持日韓中自由貿易協定談判的正軌，但隨著緊張局勢的升級，這種可能性不大。

Analysts say China can benefit economically if South Korea and Japan resolve their differences, but it could potentially benefit geopolitically if their relationship worsens, weakening U.S. influence in the region.

分析人士表示，如果韓國和日本解決分歧，中國可以在經濟上受益，但如果兩國關係惡化，削弱美國在該地區的影響力，中國就可能在地緣政治上受益。

The U.S., which has a sizable military presence in both countries, has always served as a bridge between the two nations.

美國在兩國都有可觀的軍事存在，一直是兩國之間的橋樑。

But the Trump administration has stayed relatively low key in the recent Japan-Korea dispute.

但在最近的日韓爭端中，特朗普政府一直保持相對低調。

Some experts suggest this could even indirectly strengthen China's influence globally, a prospect that is raising eyebrows in Washington.

有專家認為，這甚至可以間接加強中國在全球的影響力，這一前景正在華盛頓引起關注。