Aug 01 , 2019. Kyodo News.

BANGKOK – Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung Wha held talks Thursday amid a bitter diplomatic row between their countries over wartime history and trade policy.

The talks, which took place on the sidelines of ASEAN-related meetings in Bangkok, are unlikely to yield a breakthrough despite the United States expressing concern over the growing enmity between its two biggest allies in Asia.

South Korea has heavily criticized Japan’s decision in early July to tighten restrictions on exports of key materials used to manufacture semiconductors and display panels for smartphones and TVs, saying the move goes against the spirit of free trade.

Japan also plans to remove South Korea from a “white list” of nations that have preferential status allowing them to buy products that can be diverted to military use.

The delisting, which it says is justified for national security reasons, may be approved by the Cabinet as early as Friday.

The export restrictions have come as bilateral ties were frayed by South Korean court decisions ordering compensation for victims of forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Japan says the court rulings last year violate international law because the issue of compensation was settled by a 1965 agreement under which it provided South Korea with $500 million in financial aid.

The meeting between Kono and Kang was their first face-to-face since they spoke briefly in late June on the fringes of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who will meet the two for a three-way meeting on Friday, is expected to play the role of mediator, having told reporters earlier in the week that he will “encourage” Japan and South Korea to “find a path forward.”

Washington is particularly concerned about a deadline later this month for the countries to renew a bilateral intelligence-sharing agreement that helps them counter missile threats from North Korea.

The General Security of Military Information Agreement is automatically renewed every year unless either side voices its intent to rescind the accord.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday Tokyo wants to maintain the agreement as it is “important (for the two countries) to cooperate with each other on issues that should be dealt with in a cooperative manner.”

Foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations are holding a series of meetings in the Thai capital where they will speak with counterparts from “dialogue partners” such as Japan and the United States.

CR:Kyodo News