In a stunning move that could further upend already fraying ties between Japan and South Korea, Seoul on Thursday announced that it would scrap a key intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo, with the South's presidential Blue House saying in a statement that it did not meet Seoul's "national interests" to maintain the deal amid the intensifying spat between the two neighbors.
Citing a "grave change" in security cooperation conditions that it attributed to the recent strengthening of export controls by the Japanese government, the Blue House said it planned to inform Tokyo of the move to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement before a Saturday deadline, the South's Yonhap news agency said.
Kim You-geun, deputy director of South Korea's presidential national security office, said this would be done via a diplomatic channel.
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