Japan's export curbs on Korea are leading to concerns over the loss of stability and efficiency spilling over from the Korean and Japanese economies, out to the global economy as well. A setback in Korea's semiconductor production would cause a significant disruption in global supplies of semiconductors and the impact could spill over to the global economy. There are also significant grounds to view Japan’s actions as a violation of WTO regulations, posing a threat to the WTO-based global order of free trade and mutual trust between nations. An analysis is gaining weight, namely that these actions are actually a politically motivated retaliation against a decision delivered by the Supreme Court of Korea last year. If so, the Japanese government is responding to issues of history by imposing economic retaliatory measures, thus harming the trust relationship between the two nations, causing a rift within the WTO order and damaging the principle of mutual prosperity in the region. As the sitting chair of the G20 who just recently produced a joint statement with leading economies around the world to realize the vision of free trade, Japan should further demonstrate its commitment to this vision as a consistent and responsible member of the global trade order.