아베 "韓, 국가간 신뢰 해치는 대응 계속돼 유감"
A day after Seoul announced the intel-sharing deal with Tokyo will not be renewed, high profile Japanese figures responded.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other top government officials expressed regret over the decision.
Kim Hyesung brings us their reactions.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has criticized South Korea's decision to withdraw from GSOMIA saying the action damages trust with Tokyo.
Abe told reporters Friday that Seoul's decision would make it harder for the two sides to work together.
"Unfortunately, South Korea has been continuing its response that damages the trust between our two countries, such as going against the 1965 Basic Treaty. Regardless of the circumstances, Japan has dealt with this issue so as to not influence Japan-U.S.-South Korea cooperation over the current Northeast Asian security issues."
Abe added that Japan will continue to coordinate with the U.S. to secure peace and stability in the region.
Earlier Friday, Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya also called South Korea's move extremely regrettable, urging Seoul to reconsider its withdrawal from the three-year-old military information exchange framework and vowing to keep the decision from damaging regional security cooperation.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said on Friday that Seoul's decision misreads the security situation in Northeast Asia.
Late Thursday night, he summoned South Korea's ambassador to Japan to lodge an official complaint.
South Korea had said Tokyo's removal of Seoul from the list of its preferred trading partners for sensitive exports created a "grave change" to their cooperation on security, but Kono said those two are completely different matters.
Seoul on Friday afternoon summoned Japanese Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine to the South Korean Foreign Ministry and formally informed Tokyo of its decision to scrap the military pact.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
