on China, but a new trade war is emerging

in Asia, this time between Japan and South Korea.

What started as a historical dispute over forced labour

during Japan's wartime rule on the Korean peninsula has

swiftly turned into a major economic and political crisis

for Seoul.

Tokyo believes that compensation for wartime forced labour was

settled under a 1965 treaty.

But South Korean courts have allowed individual claims

to be made against Japanese companies.

Blaming a loss of trust and security issues,

Shinzo Abe's government has turned to export controls,

threatening to disrupt supplies of key technologies

to South Korean companies in a bid

to pressure South Korean president Moon Jae-in.

South Koreans are outraged, boycotting Japanese-made goods.

And in the most extreme cases, two men

have died after setting themselves on fire in protest.

Some international experts are also

worried that Mr Abe is following the Trump

playbook in weaponising trade.

South Korea's tech giants, including the world's two

biggest makers of memory chips, Samsung and SK Hynix,

are urgently looking for replacement sources

for some of the key materials and components

that they use to make computer chips.

Any long-term disruptions to the South Korean companies

will cause serious headaches across the global technology

supply chain.

There are also fears that the dispute will

drive a lasting wedge between these key US allies

in Asia, just as Washington needs their co-operation

to deal with North Korea's missile tests

and the rising threats posed by China and Russia.