South Korea Warns Japan Trade Move Could Hurt Security Ties

Japan’s plan to remove South Korea from a list of trusted export destinations would have a grave impact that could hurt security ties between the two U.S. allies, Seoul’s top diplomat said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke Aug. 1 after meeting her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono for their first face-to-face talks since Tokyo announced last month it was tightening monitoring of exports of three specialty materials vital to its Asian neighbor’s technology sector. Japan also soon plans to introduce stricter checks on a far wider range of exports.

“We cannot help but see this as affecting the framework ...