South Korea will stop exchanging classified intelligence on North Korea with Japan amid a bitter trade dispute, Seoul says in a surprise announcement.
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'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. He said South Korea's linking of trade and security was"absolutely unacceptable, and we firmly protest to the South Korean government."
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. 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'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."
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