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This study, which was conducted by selecting items in the materials and parts sector that were included in the top 30 Korean imports from Japan based on the import amount, aimed to identify the competitiveness of these import items relative to that of Japan. Results showed the following: First, a chronic deficit with Japan decreased for four consecutive years and dependence on imports from Japan in the materials and parts sector also recorded an all-time low (18.1%) in 2014 from 25.2% and 23.0% in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Second, as of 2014, ‘automobile parts’ and ‘lubricating oil’ were the only two items which displayed competitiveness compared to Japan among the 30 items analyzed. All the remaining 28 items were found to have negative competitiveness indices. In addition, 17 items have competitiveness indices of less than -0.60 and hence, competitiveness relative to Japan was assessed to still be vulnerable. Third, as of 2014, Korea still showed import dependence on Japan up to more than 60% among the 30 items for seven items such as ‘other optical equipment parts’ to ‘other basic oil’, ‘styrene’, ‘diesel’, ‘propylene’, ‘plate glass’, ‘toluene’. Moreover, ‘diesel’ and ‘propylene’ showed dependence on Japanese imports of more than 80% from 2000 to 2014. In particular, dependence on ‘propylene’ reached a whopping 98.8%, showing that Korea was mostly dependent on Japan for materials and parts.
