This was the reiteration of an announcement by the presidential Blue House which was made on Friday after Japan's removal of South Korea from its whitelist of trusted trading partners. The bilateral accord, known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement, is automatically renewed every August. But the situation this year may change.
South Korea also announced its plans to invest about 6.5 billion USD in research and development for local materials, parts and equipment over the next seven years in an effort to cut the reliance on Japanese imports.