TASS, August 22. The Republic of Korea has decided to abandon the military intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan, South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday, citing deputy head of the country’s National Security Council Kim You-geun.
"The government decided to terminate intelligence sharing with Japan. Tokyo will receive the official notification through diplomatic channels," Kim You-geun said at a briefing in Seoul.
He underlined that "Japan failed to explain the reasons behind excluding South Korea from the list of trusted trade partners, citing undermined relations of trust between Seoul and Tokyo, which caused these changes in defense-related cooperation of the two countries."
Moreover, Kim You-geun announced that "maintaining the agreement signed for the purposes of sharing important military intelligence no longer conforms with South Korea’s national interests."
On August 2, the Japanese government approved the proposal to remove South Korea from the list of countries receiving Japanese nanomaterials and high-tech components in a streamlined manner and without any restrictions. The decision will officially come into force on August 28.
On July 1, Tokyo tightened control over the export of three types of materials to South Korea, needed to produce semiconductors and displays of various electronic gadgets. The decision was particularly made due to suspicion that some of these components can be illegally delivered to North Korea from the South. Seoul flatly rejected such an idea and responded by introducing similar restrictions against Japan.