All eyes will be on the Swiss city of Geneva again today,... namely on the WTO General Council meeting,... when South Korea and Japan go toe-to-toe over Tokyo's harsh tech-related trade curbs on Seoul.<br />The issue was supposed to be discussed on Tuesday,... but the meeting ran long... due to discussions over other agenda items.<br />Kim Hyo-sun reports.<br />Discussions at the WTO General Council on Japan's trade restrictions on South Korea have been pushed to Wednesday due to time constraints.<br />It was listed as the 11th agenda among the 17 items set for Tuesday's meeting.<br />But the meeting went longer than expected,... with the council agreeing to meet again Wednesday to discuss the remaining agenda items.<br />While the meeting lasted nearly six hours, excluding the recess,... the member-states only managed to discuss up to item number eight.<br />During the annual meeting of the international trade watchdog's top decision-making body aside from the Ministerial Conferences,... many developing countries raised their voices on the effectiveness of WTO's aid programs.<br />Seoul's Deputy Trade Minister Kim Seung-ho, who is leading Seoul's delegation, was not fazed by the delay.<br /><br />"I will stand there with the same attitude to explain our stance."<br /><br />While Kim was expected to confront Shingo Yamagami, Director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Economic Affairs Bureau during the meeting,... Yamagami only showed up as the meeting was wrapping up.<br />The Japanese Ambassador to Geneva, Junichi Ihara was present for most of the meeting.<br /><br />"We will listen to South Korea's opinions as it requested the issue to be dealt with as an agenda item, and then explain our stance courteously and clearly."<br /><br />Yamagami also explained Tokyo's measures do not go against the WTO's spirit of free trade.<br />With Seoul and Tokyo certain to clash over Japan's trade restrictions,... it's left to be seen whose side the international community will take in the increasingly bitter fight.<br />Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.<br />
