SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Japan's export curbs on South Korea negatively affected the trilateral security cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan, South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Friday.
Jeong made the remark during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who arrived here on Thursday for a two-day visit on the final leg of his five-country trip to the Asia-Pacific region since he took office last month, according to Newsis news agency.
"Japan is causing an adverse effect on relations between (South) Korea and Japan and security cooperation between (South) Korea, the United States and Japan by raising security issues and announcing economic retaliatory measures such as export curbs and the removal from its whitelist," Jeong was quoted as saying.
Japan removed South Korea last week from its whitelist of trusted trading partners, after tightening regulations last month on its export to South Korea of three materials vital to produce memory chips and display panels.
Following Japan's announcement of the whitelist removal, South Korea's presidential Blue House said it would review whether to continue exchanging sensitive military intelligence with Japan, referring to the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).
The GSOMIA was signed in November 2016 by South Korea and Japan to share military intelligence on nuclear and missile programs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Many South Koreans saw the deal with Japan as unacceptable because the Japanese leadership had yet to sincerely apologize for its militaristic history. The Korean Peninsula was colonized by Imperial Japan between 1910 and 1945.
The GSOMIA had been automatically renewed each year in August. If either party wants to scrap the pact, the party is required to notify the other of its intention 90 days in advance. This year's notification deadline falls on Aug. 24.
