In fact, on the surface, this is a dispute over economic interests, but in fact it is caused by problems left over from history. Japan's ambiguity about its aggression in recent years has also aroused strong dissatisfaction from neighboring countries, especially on the issues of comfort women and labor, and also aroused strong dissatisfaction from South Korea, which led to such measures as taking economic countermeasures.
However, Japan is also an economic power and is not afraid of South Korea's counter-attack, so it will choose economic sanctions to deal with South Korea, because South Korea's economic dependence on Japan is far greater than Japan's economic dependence on South Korea. So this is very uncomfortable for South Korea, because it needs Japanese high technology to develop its own industry, but because Japan stopped importing high technology to South Korea. It also caused South Korea to lose support in some core technologies, and also caused the share prices of some high-tech enterprises in South Korea to fall.
Therefore, this is also because of the historical contradictions and territorial disputes between the two countries. Because the territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan still exists, the territorial issue has been tense in recent years. Of course, the United States will also play a very big role in this. He doesn't want the tension between his two allies, because it will harm the interests of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region.