S. Korea ends intelligence deal with Japan amid trade dispute

SEOUL, South Korea — 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.

Many experts had predicted that South Korea would be unlikely to spike the 3-year-old intelligencesharing deal for the sake of its relations with the United States.

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.

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.