SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki said Friday that the country will tighten export regulations on Japan in response to Japan's removal of South Korea from its whitelist of trusted trading partners.

Hong, who also serves as the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, told a press briefing that South Korea will take actions to strengthen the export management towards Japan by "removing Japan from the whitelist."

The minister said the government will speed up the process of taking Japan's export restriction to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as Japan's action is in violation of the WTO rules.

Japan's action will affect 1,194 strategic materials in trade between the two countries, but 159 items will be actually influenced when excluding items that are not used here, not made in Japan, or can be replaced with other items, Hong noted.

He said the government will help local companies find alternative import sources, simplify the import process of alternative items and reduce tariff burden.

The government will provide support for the development of parts and materials and the construction of factories to expand the production of the affected materials.