SEOUL/TOKYO — South Korea said on Thursday it will scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, drawing a swift protest from Tokyo and deepening a decades-old row over history that has hit trade and undercut security cooperation over North Korea.

Seoul’s decision not to extend the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) shows how the political and trade dispute between the Asian neighbors and US allies has now hit some of the region’s most sensitive security issues. The agreement had been due for automatic renewal on Saturday.

The arrangement was designed to share information on the threat posed by North Korea and its missile and nuclear activities — a threat underlined by the North’s recent launch of a series of short-range ballistic missiles.

Explaining its decision, South Korea’s Kim You-geun, a deputy director of the presidential National Security Council (NSC), said Japan had created a “grave change” in the environment for bilateral security cooperation by removing South Korea’s fast-track export status this month.

“Under this situation, we have determined that it would not serve our national interest to maintain an agreement we signed with the aim of exchanging military information which is sensitive to security,” Kim told a news conference.

Relations between the northeast Asian neighbors began to deteriorate late last year following a diplomatic row over compensation for wartime forced laborers during Japan’s occupation of Korea.

They soured further when Japan tightened its curbs on exports of high-tech materials needed by South Korea’s chip industry and again this month when Tokyo said it would remove South Korea’s fast-track export status.

Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Kono, criticized Seoul for what he said was mixing the export controls with security issues.

“Given such issues as North Korea, everyone probably understands the importance of this agreement. But this decision was made while linking it to Japan’s review of export controls,” he told reporters.

“I cannot help saying they are completely misreading the security environment.”

He said Tokyo had summoned the South Korean ambassador in protest.

The South Korean decision is likely to be met with dismay in the United States, which fears weakened security cooperation.

South Korea’s won currency extended losses against the dollar in offshore non-deliverable forward trade, falling by some 0.4 percent against the dollar in five minutes after the announcement on concern that trade disputes with Japan could be drawn out.

Intelligence sharing is key to developing a common defense policy and strategy, and all three countries are safer when they work together, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said.

South Korea’s foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, emphasized that the decision to end the intelligence pact was because South Korea had lost trust in Japan.

“We will continue to strengthen cooperation with the United States and develop the alliance,” she told reporters in Seoul.

South Korea’s defense ministry said that regardless of the end of GSOMIA, it would maintain a “stable” joint defense posture based on a robust alliance with the United States.

One Western military source said the intelligence-sharing was sometimes limited but nevertheless an important area of cooperation in the face of threats from North Korea.

GSOMIA facilitated the sharing of information on North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, which remain despite a series of summits and negotiations with North Korea, said Cho Tae-yong, a former South Korean national security adviser who worked on the deal when it was first signed.

“Ending GSOMIA is not only the wrong card to play to press Japan, but it is just not helpful for our security,” he said.

The decision also comes as China and Russia have been more assertive in the region, flying their first joint military air patrol together in July, which triggered an international incident with South Korea and Japan.

Before the signing of the agreement in 2016, under US pressure, South Korea and Japan shared intelligence through the United States.

South Korea went ahead with the deal at the time despite opposition from some political parties and a large section of the public, who remain bitter over Japan’s actions during its colonial rule of Korea from 1910 until the end of World War Two.

A 2012 attempt to seal the deal fell apart in the face of opposition in South Korea toward military cooperation with Japan.

Relations between the two US allies now appear to be at their lowest since they normalized ties in 1965, plagued by bitterness over Japan’s occupation, which included the use of South Korean forced labor at some Japanese firms.

South Korea had warned it could reconsider the GSOMIA after Japan imposed export curbs and then stripped South Korea of its favored trading partner status.

Seoul said those moves by Japan were in retaliation for a South Korean Supreme Court order for Japanese companies to compensate some of their wartime forced laborers last October.

Japan condemned that ruling, saying the matter was resolved by a 1965 treaty normalizing ties. It has also cited unspecified security reasons for its export controls. </s> TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - Japanese Minister of Defence Takeshi Iwaya said on Friday South Korea’s decision to end an intelligence-sharing pact was regrettable and showed it failed to appreciate the growing security threat posed by North Korea.

South Korea officially informed Japan on Friday of its decision to scrap the intelligence-sharing agreement, further straining ties amid a dispute over South Koreans pressed into forced labor during Japan’s wartime occupation of Korea.

“North Korea’s repeated missile tests threaten national security, and cooperating between Japan and South Korea and with the U.S. is crucial,” Iwaya told reporters.

Ties between the East Asian neighbors, both important U.S. allies, were already at their lowest ebb in years before South Korea’s decision to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).

The dispute over forced laborers has also spilled over into trade, with Japan putting restrictions on exports of semiconductor materials to South Korea and removing it from a list of nations given preferential trading terms.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday Japan still expected South Korea to keep its promises on the contentious issue of wartime forced labor and to work to rebuild trust.

Under the GSOMIA, which had been due for automatic renewal on Saturday, the two countries shared information on the threat posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.

South Korea will share intelligence with Japan through a three-way channel involving the United States, South Korea’s deputy national security adviser Kim Hyun-chong said on Friday, meaning Japan and South Korea are likely to revert to sharing intelligence through the U.S. military.

The United States, which fears weakened security cooperation in the region, expressed dismay over South Korea’s decision, announced on Thursday, to end the pact and urged the two countries to continue to engage with each other.

Kim said the decision to end the intelligence-sharing deal was inevitable as Japan had ignored South Korea’s repeated offers of dialogue to resolve what Japan said was damaged trust between them.

“I think this situation will be an opportunity to upgrade the South Korea-U.S. alliance, in close cooperation,” Kim said,

The Trilateral Information-Sharing Agreement (TISA) between the United States, Japan and South Korea, which Japan and South Korea will revert back to after their GSOMIA ends, specifies a narrower range of information to be shared, Kim said.

Under the TISA, the countries can share information about North Korean nuclear and missile threats, while GSOMIA’s range included information “directly or indirectly related to” North Korean nuclear or missile threats, Kim said. </s> South Korea said on Thursday it will scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, a decision that could further escalate a dispute over history and trade and undercut security cooperation on North Korea.

The decision was announced after an hours-long debate within the presidential National Security Council (NSC).

The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was due to be automatically renewed on Saturday, unless either side decided to cancel it.

Japan created a “grave change” in the environment for bilateral security cooperation by removing South Korea’s fast-track export status, citing security concerns without providing clear evidence, said Kim You-geun, a deputy director of the National Security Council.

“Under this situation, we have determined that it would not serve our national interest to maintain an agreement we signed with the aim of exchanging military information which is sensitive to security,” Kim told a news conference.

South Korea would deliver a formal notice to Japan within the due date, Kim said.

There was no immediate reaction from Tokyo, but Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said before the announcement that the deal bolstered security cooperation between the two countries.

“Although ties between Japan and South Korea are in a very tough situation, we believe we should cooperate with South Korea where cooperation is necessary,” Suga told a regular news conference earlier on Thursday.

The decision is likely to be met with dismay in the United States, which fears weakened security cooperation. The accord is important for efforts to fend off North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

The U.S. envoy on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, raised the issue during a meeting with South Korea’s deputy national security adviser, Kim Hyun-chong, before the NSC gathering.

The United States played a key role in initiating the hard-won GSOMIA, which was clinched in 2016 after a 2012 plan fell apart in the face of domestic opposition in South Korea toward military cooperation with old foe Japan.

Relations between the two U.S. allies are seen at their lowest since they normalised ties in 1965, plagued by bitterness over Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean peninsula, which included the use of South Korean forced labour at some Japanese firms.

South Korea had warned it could reconsider the GSOMIA after Japan imposed export curbs on some materials vital to South Korean chipmakers and stripped South Korea of fast-track export status.

South Korea called the Japanese action retaliation for a South Korean Supreme Court order for Japanese companies to compensate some of their wartime forced labourers last October.

Japan condemned the ruling, saying the matter was resolved by a 1965 treaty normalising ties. Japan cited unspecified security reasons for the export controls. </s> South Korea has said it will scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, drawing a swift protest from Tokyo and deepening a decades-old dispute that has hit trade and undercut security cooperation over North Korea.

South Korea’s Kim You-geun, a deputy director of the presidential National Security Council, said Japan had created a “grave change” in the environment for bilateral security cooperation by removing South Korea’s fast-track export status this month.

“Under this situation, we have determined that it would not serve our national interest to maintain an agreement we signed with the aim of exchanging military information which is sensitive to security,” Kim told a news conference.

The agreement – called the the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) – had been due for automatic renewal on Saturday. The arrangement was designed to share information on the threat posed by North Korea and its missile and nuclear activities – a threat underlined by the North’s recent launch of a series of short-range ballistic missiles.

Relations between South Korea and Japan began to deteriorate late last year following a diplomatic row over compensation for wartime forced labourers during Japan’s occupation of Korea.

They soured further when Japan tightened its curbs on exports of high-tech materials needed by South Korea’s chip industry, and again this month when Tokyo said it would remove South Korea’s fast-track export status.

The US, which fears weakened security cooperation in the region, expressed dismay. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said: “We’re disappointed to see the decision the South Koreans made about that information-sharing agreement. We’re urging each of the two countries to continue to engage.”

“There is no doubt that the shared interests of Japan and South Korea are important and they’re important to the United States of America,” he added.

Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Kono, criticised Seoul for mixing export controls with security issues. He said: “Given such issues as North Korea, everyone probably understands the importance of this agreement. But this decision was made while linking it to Japan’s review of export controls.

“I cannot help saying they are completely misreading the security environment.“”

He said Tokyo had summoned the South Korean ambassador in protest.

South Korea’s Defence Ministry said that regardless of the end of GSOMIA, it would maintain a “stable” joint defence posture based on a robust alliance with the United States.

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said the integrity of US mutual defence and security ties needed to be maintained despite frictions in other areas of the relationship between Japan and South Korea.

“The Department of Defense expresses our strong concern and disappointment that the Moon administration has withheld its renewal of ... GSOMIA,” he said, referring to South Korean president Moon Jae-in.

GSOMIA facilitated the sharing of information on North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, which remain despite a series of summits and negotiations with North Korea, said Cho Tae-yong, a former South Korean national security adviser who worked on the deal when it was first signed. “Ending GSOMIA is not only the wrong card to play to press Japan, but it is just not helpful for our security,” he said.

Analysts in the US also saw the move as misguided and some blamed an inward-looking Trump administration for failing to pay sufficient attention to its allies.

“This is what America First gets us – everyone for themselves in lieu of a collaborative network of partners,” Daniel Russel, the State Department’s top diplomat for Asia until early in the Trump administration, told the Nelson Report online newsletter.

“At a time when North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals are rapidly expanding, the abrogation of GSOMIA directly harms US national security,” he said. “And at a time when China’s assertiveness and new capabilities represent an unprecedented challenge, the disintegration of the US-led alliance system is a disaster.”

China and also Russia have become more assertive in the region, flying their first joint military air patrol together in July, which triggered an international incident with South Korea and Japan. </s> South Korea is ending its intelligence-sharing pact with Japan in a dramatic escalation of the two countries' trade war. It is a move that could strip Japan of vital information about North Korea's nuclear program.

South Korea's National Security Council decided to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) after an hour-long meeting on Thursday, Reuters reported, adding that President Moon Jae-in personally approved the plan.

The GSOMIA was due to be automatically renewed this Saturday unless one side canceled it, Reuters and South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The South Korean presidency blamed Japan for the termination of the deal, citing a "trust issue" it had created in the two countries' bilateral security relations, Yonhap reported.

Kim You-geun, the deputy director South Korea's National Security Council, noted in a Thursday statement that Japan had on August 2 dropped South Korea from its list of favored trading partners "without providing clear ground."

This, he said, led to a "grave change in security cooperation circumstances between the two nations," Yonhap reported.

South Korea also dropped Japan from its export whitelist ten days after Tokyo's decision, and created an entirely new country category to punish Japan economically.

Those moves mean that Japanese and South Korean exporters of "strategic" goods will now have to go through additional screening to sell abroad.

Read more: South Korea created a new category of country specifically to punish Japan in their escalating trade war

A truck drives between shipping containers at a container terminal at Incheon port, South Korea, in May 2016. Kim Hong-ji/Reuters

The decision to terminate the GSOMIA came shortly after Japan and South Korea's foreign ministers met in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday, but failed to achieve a breakthrough, Yonhap and Reuters reported.

They have, however, promised to continue talking.

"Although ties between Japan and South Korea are in a very tough situation, we believe we should cooperate with South Korea where cooperation is necessary," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday, shortly before Seoul's announcement to end GSOMIA, Reuters reported.

Japan and South Korea have had tense relations since at least 1910, when Japan colonized South Korea and ruled it with an iron fist until 1945.

Tensions bubbled to the surface late last year when the South Korean Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to compensate Korean laborers who were forced to work for them during World War II.

The Japanese government maintains it settled all colonial-era debts in a 1965 pact, and many Japanese companies refused to comply with the court's order.

Read more: South Korea and Japan's trade war has gotten so bad that some South Korean gas stations are refusing to refuel Japanese-made cars

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (center) at a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono (left), South Korean Foreign Minister (second-left), and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (second-right) in Beijing, China, on Thursday. Japan and South Korea failed to make headway in this meeting. How Hwee Young/Pool via Reuters

Why ending the intelligence pact is a big deal

GSOMIA went into effect in November 2016, and was apparently created out of the US's strong encouragement, Yonhap and the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The intelligence pact sped up information exchange between the two countries, which previously only exchanged information via the US, the AP reported. The US has separate security pacts with both Japan and South Korea, which officials say won't be affected, according to Yonhap.

All three countries have an interest in maintaining security cooperation as China continues to expand its military and naval power in the region, and North Korea's nuclear program continues to be a threat.

North Korea has long used missile tests to make threats against South Korea, with many of the projectiles landing in the Sea of Japan.

Kim Jong Un's regime completed six missile tests within the space of a month this summer to protest against the US and South Korea's joint military drills.

Images of North Korea's missile launch shown on TV at the Seoul Railway Station in South Korea on July 25, 2019. Ahn Young-joon/AP

The US has repeatedly urged its two Asian partners to resolve their differences.

Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, said according to Yonhap and Reuters: "We encourage Japan and Korea to work together to resolve their differences. I hope they can do this quickly."

"We are all stronger — and Northeast Asia is safer — when the United States, Japan and Korea work together in solidarity and friendship," he added. "Intel-sharing is key to developing our common defense policy and strategy."

The US has a total of 80,000 troops in South Korea and Japan combined, according to the AP.

Ankit Panda, a security expert and adjunct senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, told The New York Times: "We're going to lose an important source of information-sharing between our two allies at a very dangerous time."

"I think the two countries can be fairly described as adversaries now," he added. "In Seoul, the idea is if we can do something that will hurt Japan more than it will hurt us, then it's worth doing." </s> South Korean police officers stand guard in front of Japanese embassy as a rally demanding the South Korean government to abolish the General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, an intelligence-sharing agreement between South Korea and Japan, is held near the embassy, in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea said Thursday it will terminate an intelligence-sharing deal with Japan that focused on classified information about North Korea, a surprise announcement that is likely to set back U.S. efforts to bolster security cooperation with two of its most important allies in the Asian region.

South Korea attributed the decision to its bitter trade dispute with Japan, which has plunged the two countries’ relations to their lowest point since they established diplomatic ties in 1965. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono called the decision “extremely regrettable” and summoned the South Korean ambassador to protest the linking of trade and security issues.

The U.S. expressed disappointment in the decision. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. hopes that “each of those two countries can begin to put that relationship back in exactly the right place.” The U.S. is urging Japan and South Korea to continue to talk, he said.

Many experts had predicted that South Korea would be unlikely to spike the 3-year-old intelligence-sharing deal for the sake of its relations with the United States. South Korea has been seeking U.S. help in resolving the trade dispute, and Seoul and Washington have also been working together to restart stalled talks on stripping North Korea of its nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s presidential office said it terminated the intelligence deal because Japan’s recent decision to downgrade South Korea’s trade status caused a “grave” change in security cooperation between the countries.

“Under this situation, the government has determined that maintaining the agreement, which was signed for the purpose of exchanging sensitive military intelligence on security, does not serve our national interests,” Kim You-geun, the deputy director of South Korea’s presidential national security office, said in a nationally televised statement.

He said South Korea would formally notify Japan of its decision before Saturday, the deadline for an extension of the pact for another year.

Japanese Foreign Minister Kono said in a statement that the decision “was an action that completely misjudged the current security environment in the region and is extremely regrettable.”

He said South Korea’s linking of trade and security was “absolutely unacceptable, and we firmly protest to the South Korean government.”

Since early last month, Japan has imposed stricter controls on exports to South Korea of three chemicals essential for manufacturing semiconductors and display screens — key export items for South Korea — and decided to remove South Korea from a list of countries granted preferential trade status.

South Korea accuses Japan of weaponizing trade to punish it over a separate dispute linked to Japan’s brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Japan denies that, saying its steps were taken because of unspecified security concerns.

The Japanese trade curbs triggered an outburst of anti-Japan sentiment in South Korea. Many South Korean citizens rallied in the streets, canceled planned holiday trips to Japan and launched widespread boycotts of Japanese beer, clothes and other products. The South Korean government, for its part, decided to downgrade Japan’s trade status.

Some experts say the tit-for-tat actions could eventually hurt South Korea’s economy more than Tokyo’s. Many big South Korean manufacturers including Samsung rely heavily on materials and components imported from Japan, while Japan doesn’t import many vital materials from South Korea.

Liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who earlier declared his country would “never again lose” to Japan, used the Aug. 15 anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan to extend an olive branch. Moon said Seoul will “gladly join hands” if Tokyo wanted to talk.

The Pentagon on Thursday expressed “strong concern and disappointment” in the collapse of the agreement.

“We strongly believe that the integrity of our mutual defense and security ties must persist despite frictions in other areas” of the South Korea-Japan relationship,” said Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman. “We’ll continue to pursue bilateral and trilateral defense and security cooperation where possible.”

On Wednesday, the top U.S. envoy on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, told reporters in Seoul that he appreciated what he called “strong and continued cooperation between the U.S., South Korea and Japan.”

The intelligence deal went into effect in 2016, reportedly at the strong urging of the United States, which wants to boost three-day security cooperation to better cope with North Korea’s nuclear threat and a rising China. The United States stations a total of 80,000 troops in the two Asian countries, the core of America’s military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Experts said the deal enabled a quicker exchange of information between Seoul and Tokyo, because they had previously exchanged intelligence via the United States. In 2012, the countries nearly forged a similar deal but it was scrapped at the last minute following a vehement backlash in South Korea.

However, it is unclear how effective the deal has been for both countries, especially on intelligence on North Korea, one of the world’s most secretive countries. But there has been a general consensus that South Korea needed information gathered by Japanese satellites and other high-tech systems, while Japan enjoyed signal, voice and human intelligence from South Korea.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Thursday that it will try to maintain a “stable and perfect combined security posture” with the United States regardless of the termination of the intelligence deal. It called the South Korean-U.S. alliance “powerful.”

South Korean government and ruling party officials have publicly questioned how Seoul could share intelligence with a country that questioned Seoul’s handling of sensitive materials imported from Japan. Without providing concrete evidence, some Japanese officials including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have suggested that some critical Japanese materials with potential military applications exported to South Korea may have reached North Korea. Seoul flatly denies that.

The fate of the deal had divided people in South Korea. Some argued that South Korea should do whatever it could to inflict pain on Japan, and that just floating the idea of ending the intelligence deal could force the United States to persuade Japan to lift its trade curbs. But some stressed that the deal’s cancellation would impair relations with the United States at a time when South Korea faces many security challenges including the stalemated North Korean nuclear talks.

Moon’s government has lobbied hard to facilitate talks between the U.S. and North Korea on the nuclear crisis. But the diplomacy has remained largely stalemated for months, and North Korea now says it won’t go through South Korea to talk to the United States. The North recently test-fired a series of short-range missiles and other weapons capable of striking much of South Korea.

Last month, a Russian military plane allegedly violated South Korean airspace in the first such trespassing by a foreign warplane since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Russian and Chinese warplanes allegedly also made a highly unusual joint entrance to South Korea’s air defense identification zone, in what analysts said was an attempt to see how the Seoul-Washington-Tokyo security cooperation worked.

South Korea’s main conservative opposition party accused the Moon government of confusing “genuine courage” with “foolhardy courage.” The Liberty Korea Party said security coordination with Washington and Japan needed to be solidified in the face of strengthening cooperation among Russia, China and North Korea.

“We would have lots of things to lose from the deal’s termination,” said analyst Go Myong-Hyun of the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “If the U.S. turned its back on South Korea, we would be completely isolated in Northeast Asia.”

On Thursday evening, about 30 anti-Tokyo activists gathered near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to welcome the intelligence deal’s termination. Jubilant participants held placards that read “The scrapping of the South Korea-Japan deal is a people’s victory.”

Associated Press journalists Lee Jin-man in Seoul, South Korea, and Mari Yamaguchi and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report. </s> South Korea plans to terminate a military intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan, prompting concerns about security cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington as North Korea's nuclear and missile threat looms over the Korean Peninsula.

It's the latest breakdown between Seoul and Tokyo: Earlier this month, Japan removed South Korea from its "whitelist" of favored trade partners, prompting a retaliation in kind.

The Blue House, South Korea's presidential residence in Seoul, announced Thursday that it will end the General Security of Military Information Agreement – a pact pushed by the Obama administration and signed in 2016 as a way for the two countries to exchange valuable information on threats posed by North Korea, China and Russia.

"The government of the Republic of Korea decided that maintaining this Agreement, which was signed to facilitate the exchange of sensitive military information, does not serve our national interest," Kim You-geun, deputy director of the country's National Security Office, said in a statement.

Seoul's decision was made public before a Saturday deadline that would have automatically renewed the agreement for another year. South Korea appeared to be preparing for an extension, but that changed after Japan abruptly dropped the country from its list of preferred trade partners.

On Thursday, Kim blamed Tokyo for altering their relationship through the downgrade, providing "no concrete evidence" for the decision. Japan has also imposed export controls on products that are essential to South Korea's booming technology industry.

Tokyo said the move was made on national security grounds. But the two countries' disputes also trace back to Japan's colonial occupation of Korea between 1910 and 1945. A South Korean Supreme Court ruling last year allowed Korean victims of forced labor during World War II to seek compensation from Japanese firms. South Korea also shut down a Japanese-funded foundation that supported Korean comfort women who were forced into sexual slavery during the war. Both actions incensed the Japanese government.

Japan's downgrading of trade ties with South Korea escalated tensions between the countries and triggered protests outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed that "we will never again lose to Japan." And the prospect of pulling out of the military intelligence-sharing agreement began.

According to South Korea's Joongang Daily newspaper, Seoul and Tokyo have communicated about military intelligence matters at least seven times this year. That includes exchanges on the North's recent spate of short-range missile tests, even after Tokyo's decision to downgrade its trade relationship with Seoul.

Last month, Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Tokyo would prefer to continue sharing intelligence, especially on North Korea. On Thursday, Taro said Seoul's decision "completely misreads the security situation in Northeast Asia," according to the Kyodo news agency.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told reporters on Thursday that the decision amounted to a "trust issue." She said Seoul is preparing to explain the decision to both Japan and Washington — and that the decision is "a separate issue from the South Korea-U.S. alliance."

Washington has long sought to build accord between Seoul and Tokyo as another mechanism to confront North Korea and a burgeoning China.

Both Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and special envoy on North Korea Steve Biegun have reportedly nudged America's allies to patch up their differences. But critics accuse Washington of letting the bad blood boil between Tokyo and Seoul for too long before intervening.

Foreign policy experts also note that the U.S. faces a challenge in countering the deep veins of nationalism that both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have mined for their own political gains.

Whether or not there is an immediate response from North Korea, China or Russia, those countries are likely pleased with the growing rift inside the U.S. web of alliances. </s> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will stop exchanging classified intelligence on North Korea with Japan amid a bitter trade dispute, an official said Thursday, a surprise announcement that is likely to set back U.S. efforts to bolster security cooperation with two of its most important allies in Asia.

South Korea’s decision to cancel the intelligence-sharing pact will further aggravate its ties with Japan, which already are at their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1965. Japanese media said Tokyo will lodge a protest with Seoul and quoted unidentified Tokyo officials as calling the South Korean move “extremely regrettable” and “unbelievable.”

Many experts predicted that South Korea would be unlikely to spike the 3-year-old intelligence-sharing deal for the sake of its relations with the United States. South Korea has been seeking U.S. help in resolving the trade dispute, and Seoul and Washington have been working together to restart stalled talks on stripping North Korea of nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s presidential office said it killed the intelligence deal because Japan’s recent decision to downgrade South Korea’s trade status caused a “grave” change in security cooperation between the countries.

“Under this situation, the government has determined that maintaining the agreement, which was signed for the purpose of exchanging sensitive military intelligence on security, does not serve our national interests,” Kim You-geun, the deputy director of South Korea’s presidential national security office, said in a nationally televised statement.

He said South Korea will formally notify Japan of its decision before Saturday, the deadline for an extension of the pact for another year.

Japan’s Kyodo News agency quoted an unidentified Japanese government official as saying the South Korean decision was “extremely regrettable.” Public broadcaster NHK said an unidentified Japanese official described the decision as “unbelievable,” while another official said it was unlikely to have much impact on Japanese security.

Since early July, Japan has imposed stricter controls on exports to South Korea of three chemicals essential for manufacturing semiconductors and display screens — key export items for South Korea — and decided to remove South Korea from a list of countries granted preferential trade status.

South Korea accuses Japan of weaponizing trade to punish it for a separate dispute linked to Japan’s brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Japan denies that, saying its steps were taken because of unspecified security concerns.

The Japanese trade curbs triggered an outburst of anti-Japan sentiment in South Korea. South Korean citizens rallied in the streets, canceled planned holiday trips to Japan and launched widespread boycotts of Japanese beer, clothes and other products. The South Korean government, for its part, decided to downgrade Japan’s trade status.

Some experts say the tit-for-tat actions could hurt South Korea’s economy more than Tokyo’s. Many big South Korean manufacturers, including Samsung, rely heavily on materials and components imported from Japan, while Japan does not import many vital materials from South Korea.

The intelligence deal took effect in 2016, reportedly at the urging of the United States, which wants to boost three-way security cooperation to cope with North Korea’s nuclear threat and a rising China. The United States stations a total of 80,000 troops in the two Asian countries, the core of U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Experts said the deal enabled a quicker exchange of information between Seoul and Tokyo, because they had previously exchanged intelligence via the United States. In 2012, the countries nearly forged a similar deal but it was scrapped at the last minute, after a vehement backlash in South Korea.

However, it is unclear how effective the deal has been for both countries, especially on intelligence on North Korea, one of the world’s most secretive countries. But there has been a general consensus that South Korea needed information gathered by Japanese satellites and other high-tech systems, while Japan enjoyed signal, voice and human intelligence from South Korea.

Some South Korean government and ruling party officials have questioned how Seoul could share intelligence with a country that questioned Seoul’s handling of sensitive materials imported from Japan. Without providing concrete evidence, some Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have suggested that some critical Japanese materials with potential military applications exported to South Korea may have reached North Korea. Seoul denies that.

The fate of the deal divided people in South Korea. Some argued that South Korea should do whatever it could to inflict pain on Japan, and that just floating the idea of ending the intelligence deal could force the United States to persuade Japan to lift its trade curbs. But some stressed that the deal’s cancellation would impair relations with the United States at a time when South Korea faces many security challenges, including the stalemated North Korean nuclear talks.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in used the Aug. 15 anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan to extend an olive branch, by saying Seoul will “gladly join hands” if Tokyo wants to talk. He earlier had declared his country would “never again lose” to Japan. </s> SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea will stop exchanging classified intelligence on North Korea with Japan amid a bitter trade dispute, Seoul said Thursday in a surprise announcement that is likely to set back U.S. efforts to bolster security cooperation with two of its most important allies in the Asian region.

South Korea's decision to cancel the intelligence-sharing pact will also further aggravate its ties with Japan, which are already at their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1965. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono called the action "extremely regrettable" and summoned the South Korean ambassador.

Many experts had predicted that South Korea would be unlikely to spike the 3-year-old intelligence-sharing deal for the sake of its relations with the United States. South Korea has been seeking U.S. help in resolving the trade dispute, and Seoul and Washington have also been working together to restart stalled talks on stripping North Korea of its nuclear weapons.

South Korea's presidential office said it terminated the intelligence deal because Japan's recent decision to downgrade South Korea's trade status caused a "grave" change in security cooperation between the countries.

"Under this situation, the government has determined that maintaining the agreement, which was signed for the purpose of exchanging sensitive military intelligence on security, does not serve our national interests," Kim You-geun, the deputy director of South Korea's presidential national security office, said in a nationally televised statement.

He said South Korea will formally notify Japan of its decision before Saturday, the deadline for an extension of the pact for another year.

Japanese Foreign Minister Kono said in a statement that the decision "was an action that completely misjudged the current security environment in the region and is extremely regrettable."

Kono said South Korea's linking of trade and security issues was "absolutely unacceptable, and we firmly protest to the South Korean government." He said he conveyed Japan's position to the South Korean ambassador.

Since early last month, Japan has imposed stricter controls on exports to South Korea of three chemicals essential for manufacturing semiconductors and display screens — key export items for South Korea — and decided to remove South Korea from a list of countries granted preferential trade status.

South Korea accuses Japan of weaponizing trade to punish it over a separate dispute linked to Japan's brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Japan denies that, saying its steps were taken because of unspecified security concerns.

The Japanese trade curbs triggered an outburst of anti-Japan sentiment in South Korea. Many South Korean citizens rallied in the streets, canceled planned holiday trips to Japan and launched widespread boycotts of Japanese beer, clothes and other products. The South Korean government, for its part, decided to downgrade Japan's trade status.

Some experts say the tit-for-tat actions could eventually hurt South Korea's economy more than Tokyo's. Many big South Korean manufacturers including Samsung rely heavily on materials and components imported from Japan, while Japan doesn't import many vital materials from South Korea.

Liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who earlier declared his country would "never again lose" to Japan, used the Aug. 15 anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan to extend an olive branch. Moon said Seoul will "gladly join hands" if Tokyo wanted to talk.

There was no immediate reaction from the U.S. government. On Wednesday, the top U.S. envoy on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, told reporters in Seoul that he appreciated what he called "strong and continued cooperation between the U.S., South Korea and Japan."
South Korea decides against extending the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). South Korean officials express that the exclusion from Japan's preferred trade list on 12 August eliminated any benefit to maintaining the agreement.