Bangkok, August 1: South Korea on Thursday cautioned security relations with the Japanese government might get hurt if it eliminates Seoul from its nations’ list that faces minimum trade curbs after a failed meeting to narrow both nations’ differences.
South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyong-wha has held a meeting her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono on the sidelines of the ASEAN, the Southeast Asian conference, on Thursday in Bangkok, according to Reuters news reports.
The meeting considered to be the highest-level face-to-face dialogues since Tokyo tightened restrictions over exports to South Korea last month on high-tech materials, blaming the neighbour for managing inadequately the sensitive items.
However, the Bangkok dialogues yielded a little progress with a South Korean foreign ministry official stating there was “virtually no change” in Tokyo’s stance.
The official added Tokyo was on Friday “higly-likely” to endorse South Korea’s dismissal from Japanese so-called defence white paper list of nations that benefits from smooth trade.
Kang stated she urged her Japanese counterpart to halt the operation or it would attempt to force Seoul to craft counter-terrorism.
South Korea’s officials have cautioned they may have an overlook on an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, if tensions escalate.
“As Japan cited security reasons for its trade restrictions, I said we will have no option but to review the various frameworks of security cooperation with Japan,” Kang told reporters.