Seoul

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday he will make efforts with Japan "until the very last moment" to keep a bilateral military intelligence-sharing pact in place.

But Moon reiterated his demand that Tokyo lift its restrictions on exports to South Korea if it wants to keep the pact, the General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, from expiring this weekend.

Even if the pact expires, South Korea will continue security cooperation with Japan, Moon said on television.

In August, South Korea announced a decision to quit GSOMIA after Japan tightened its export controls for security reasons. The pact expires at midnight on Friday (3 p.m. GMT).

Moon said Tokyo's export controls are behind Seoul's decision to quit the pact. It is contradictory to seek to share military information while saying South Korea is not trustworthy in terms of security, he said.

He said South Korea is very helpful for Japan's national security because the share of defense spending to gross domestic product is higher in South Korea than in Japan.

Moon also said trilateral security cooperation involving Japan, the United States and South Korea is very important.

[Jiji Press]