Seoul (AFP)

South Korea announced on Thursday that it would break an existing military intelligence sharing agreement with Japan, prompting protests from Tokyo and Washington amid diplomatic and trade tensions between Asian neighbors.

"We decided that it was not in the national interest to maintain the agreement that was signed with the goal of exchanging sensitive military intelligence," said Kim You-geun, deputy director of National Security Office of the "Blue House", the seat of the South Korean Presidency, in reference to a pact known as GSOMIA.

The Japanese foreign minister called the move "extremely regrettable". "I must say that the decision to end this pact by the South Korean government is a total misjudgment of the regional security situation," Taro Kono said in a statement.

"We can not accept the statements of the South Korean side and we will protest strongly to the South Korean government," he added.

For its part, the Pentagon said it was "very worried and disappointed" by the decision of South Korea, while the head of the American diplomacy Mike Pompeo for his part called the two countries to "maintain the dialogue".

"We urge both countries to continue to cooperate, to maintain the dialogue," said Pompeo at a press conference with his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland.

"It is certain that the common interests of Japan and South Korea are important, especially for the United States," he said. "We hope these two countries will be able to put their relationship back where it belongs."

Relations between Tokyo and Seoul have been plagued for decades by litigation inherited from the time when the peninsula was a Japanese colony (1910-1945).

- Blurs -

And this latent conflict is a headache for Washington, which relies heavily on cooperation between Japan and South Korea to support its policy in a particularly tense region due to the North Korean nuclear threat and the rise in power. from China.

The quarrel between Tokyo and Seoul has worsened in recent weeks, after South Korean courts demanded Japanese companies to compensate South Koreans who were forced to work in their factories during the Japanese occupation. until the end of the Second World War.

Tokyo fought back on August 2 by deciding to remove South Korea from a list of states receiving special treatment, a measure perceived as a sanction by Seoul, which responded immediately with similar radiation.

Deputy Director of the National Security Bureau of the "Blue House", Kim You-geun, Thursday accused Japan of having made its decision of August 2 "without a clear justification."

According to him, Tokyo has raised security concerns and a loss of confidence with South Korea, which has resulted in "significant changes" in the nature of defense cooperation.

It is in this context that Seoul has decided to implement its threat of not renewing the military intelligence sharing agreement.

It was concluded in November 2016 under the aegis of Washington in the context of the rise of North Korea's ballistic and nuclear programs.

The purpose of the pact was to better coordinate the collection of information on the regime and activities of North Korea.

© 2019 AFP