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last year's South Korean Supreme Court's rulings ordering Japanese firms which to compensate surviving South Korean laborers forced to work for them during wartime was confirmation that the 1965 diplomatic treaty between Seoul and Tokyo didn't cover individuals’ right to seek damages.

Tokyo reacted angrily to the rulings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe demanding South Korea take “necessary measures” regarding the order saying Seoul was violating an international agreement. It said all outstanding bilateral issues were settled in the 1965 treaty. Although Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon agreed with Abe to resolve the ongoing friction via open dialogue a few weeks ago on a visit to Tokyo, no visible progress has been made so far.

A senior presidential aide said South Korea won't renew the GSOMIA unless Japan withdraws its July decision imposing restrictions on certain exports to South Korean companies.

“Regarding the GSOMIA, South Korea can extend the pact if Japan cancels its earlier retaliatory trade measures. We decided to terminate the GSOMIA, which was a tough decision, because Japan directly mentioned security reasons as the main reason for its imposition of the trade curbs. South Korea therefore had no option but to make the decision,” the aide said.

“If South Korea reverses course without any change in Seoul-Tokyo relations that means our ending of the GSOMIA was not thought through. Actually, this wasn't the case,” he added.

Meanwhile, Esper pressed his South Korean counterpart Jeong to maintain the bilateral intelligence sharing pact.

“The GSOMIA is an important tool by which South Korea, the U.S. and Japan share effective information, particularly in times of war. An expiration of the GSOMIA will have an impact on our effectiveness, so we urge all sides to sit down and work through their differences,” Esper told reporters in a joint press conference at the defense ministry.

“The only ones who will benefit from the expiration of the GSOMIA and continued friction between Seoul and Tokyo are Pyongyang and Beijing,” Esper added. “That reason alone should be powerful enough for us to sit down and make sure we restore our alliance to where it was so we can work together to respond to our common threats and challenges.”
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/11/356_278807.html