South Korea's dependence on Japanese imports has fallen, not risen, since Japan imposed export restrictions nearly a year ago, the report showed. In 2019, South Korea's share of imports from Japan plummeted to single digits, accounting for just 9.5 per cent of total imports, the lowest since 1965, when the country began keeping import and export statistics.

According to south Korean TV station KBS, the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry released a report on July 26 entitled "The impact of Japan's 1-year export Restrictions on South Korean industry and corresponding policies". The report data shows that after Japan adopted export control measures, although the proportion of South Korea's imports of raw materials and components from Nissan showed a small growth trend, the overall proportion of the industry's imports from Japan decreased. To be specific, in the first quarter of 2019, the proportion of South Korea's imports of raw materials and components from Japan was 15.7%. After Japan imposed export restrictions on South Korea, the proportion rose to 16.0% in the fourth quarter of the same year, showing a slight trend of growth. In contrast, the share of South Korean industry imports from Japan fell to 9.0% in the fourth quarter of 2019 after Japan imposed export restrictions on South Korea.

Sources from the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that since the Japanese government imposed export restrictions in 2019, the Rok government and the private sector have worked together to stabilize domestic supplies by speeding up the process of localization of core commodities and diversifying imports. However, contrary to expectations, after the implementation of Japan's export restriction policy to South Korea, Japan's supply of raw materials and spare parts to South Korea has not changed significantly compared with that before. People concerned said that compared with the raw materials and parts industry, other industries in South Korea's import proportion to Japan, from one side reflects that Japan's export restrictions have accelerated the development trend of reducing the economic dependence between Japan and South Korea.

According to the survey, the direct impact of Japan's export restrictions on South Korean companies is almost "insignificant". On June 15, solstice, 30, the Korean chamber of commerce and industry, in conjunction with the Korea trade and investment revitalization corporation, conducted a survey of 302 Japanese trade enterprises. According to the survey results, 84 percent of the companies surveyed said they had not suffered any loss from Japan's export restrictions. Only 16% of the companies surveyed actually suffered. Among them, the main losses were extended trading time (57%), reduced trading scale (32%) and interrupted trading (9%).

According to the survey data, 91% of respondents said Japan's export restrictions had not had a significant impact on their market competitiveness. Eighty-five percent of companies surveyed gave a positive assessment of the government's response to Japan's export restrictions. Among them, 42 percent of the surveyed enterprises praised the government's policy of "supporting enterprise research and development", while "stabilizing the market supply chain", "improving rules and regulations", "win-win cooperation between large and small enterprises", "supporting overseas mergers and acquisitions" and "technology introduction" received support from 23 percent, 18 percent, 13 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said that despite the fact that South Korean industry has been less affected than expected by Japan's export restrictions, conflicts between the two countries still exist over the compensation judgment for eminent domain. South Korea also needs to conduct additional risk inspection on enterprises, keep non-governmental cooperation, and improve the development policy of "raw materials, spare parts and equipment" to reduce domestic economic risks.