South Korea ends intelligence-sharing pact with Japan amid escalating tensions

South Korea informed Japan on Friday that it has canceled their 2016 agreement to share military intelligence, citing Japan's decision to downgrade South Korea's preferential trade status. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe criticized Seoul's decision on Friday, accused South Korea of reneging on past promises, and said Tokyo "will continue to closely coordinate with the U.S. to ensure regional peace and prosperity, as well as Japan's security."

South Korea, which said it will downgrade Japan's trade status in return, has accused Tokyo of using commerce as a cudgel to punish South Korea over a separate dispute stemming from Japan's exploitation of Koreans and brutal colonial rule from 1910 though the end of World War II, The Associated Press explains. Last year, South Korea's Supreme Court ruled that the 1965 treaty normalizing relations did not cover individuals seeking reparations from Japan; Tokyo considers all such compensation issues settled.

Senior South Korean presidential official Kim Hyun-chong said Seoul will continue to bolster its alliance with the U.S. and rely on the trilateral Japan-U.S.-South Korea intelligence-sharing network in place before the 2016 bilateral accord. The U.S. views both countries as vital allies to counter threats from North Korea and China, and the Pentagon voiced its "strong concern and disappointment" in the collapse of the agreement.

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