South Korea strikes back against Japan in diplomatic, trade rift

South Korea retaliated against Japan on Monday in a diplomatic and trade dispute between the two key U.S. allies, deciding to remove its neighbor from its list of countries entitled to preferential treatment in trade.

South Korea’s tit-for-tat action had been expected since Japan took a similar action against South Korea on Aug. 2.

Still, the move provided Washington with fresh evidence that neither South Korea nor Japan would back down anytime soon, even though President Donald Trump has urged them both to “sit down and get along with each other.”