President Moon Jae-in has said Korea has coped well with Japan's trade restrictions.
He also called on his administration to help targeted industries become more competitive moving forward.
Shin Se-min with the details.
President Moon Jae-in praised his administration for its handling of Japan's trade restrictions against South Korea, which have been in effect for almost 100 days.
Speaking during a weekly Cabinet meeting the president said swift countermeasures by the country and businesses, coupled with the Korean people's united response, meant the country was able to make progress despite such sudden trade curbs.
And the president also said these difficulties could prove to be an opportunity.
"By turning it into an opportunity and a turning point, it would fundamentally transform our industrial structure and become a huge help in enhancing our economy's competitiveness."
October 11th, this Friday, is the one hundredth day since Japan removed South Korea from its whitelist of trusted trading partners granted preferential treatments in the trade of sensitive industrial materials.
And that move in August has sparked a downturn in relations between Seoul and Tokyo,... with Korea also taking Tokyo off its whitelist in an apparent tit-for-tat measure last month.
Moving forward,... President Moon on Tuesday added that both the government and the parliament should up their communication to get a special bill passed aimed at helping local industries associated with materials and parts gain a competitive edge.
He also called on the Cabinet to do its best to upgrade the competitiveness of the targeted industries,... with the upcoming launch of a government-led committee focused on the materials and equipment industries.
Speaking on other economic matters, the president called for measures to reduce the negative impact of shorter working hours on SMEs as concerns mount over the system's expansion.
Moon also told members of his Cabinet to do their best for consultations with political parties on the matter,... and called on the parliament to get the extra budget bills including flexible working hours passed.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.