Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday that Japan wants to maintain a bilateral accord on military intelligence-sharing with South Korea despite deteriorating ties.
"It is important to cooperate with each other on issues that should be dealt with in a cooperative manner," the top government spokesman said at a news conference, admitting that bilateral relations were "in a very difficult situation."
Tokyo and Seoul signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement, a military intelligence-sharing pact, on Nov. 23, 2016. It is automatically renewed every year unless one of the countries notifies the other of its intention to terminate the pact 90 days before its renewal date, which would require notification by next month.