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The United States "recommends" South Korea and Japan seek "creative solutions" to resolve a growing trade dispute between the two nations, a State Department official said Friday.
Earlier Friday (Seoul time), Japan decided to remove South Korea from its "whitelist" of nations given preferential treatment in export procedures, further escalating trade and political tensions between the two countries.
Seoul and Tokyo have been locked in a bitter row since early July, when Japan tightened export controls against South Korea in apparent retaliation for a court ruling on wartime forced labor.
"The United States recommends Japan and the Republic of Korea find the space for creative solutions," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "The United States will continue engaging on this issue and stands ready to facilitate dialogue between our two allies."
Washington was initially reluctant to step in between its allies out of concern it would be seen as taking either side.
But as the dispute grew, the U.S. began to seek a more active role in resolving the situation by reportedly urging the two sides to consider a "standstill agreement" to allow time for negotiations.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also held a trilateral meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono on the sidelines of a security forum in Bangkok on Friday.
"As an ally and friend to both the Republic of Korea and Japan, the United States believes it is critical to ensure strong and close relationships between and among our three countries in the face of our shared regional challenges, including those posed by the DPRK, as well as our other priorities in the Indo-Pacific and around the world," the official said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The official added that South Korea and Japan each "suffer consequences" when their bilateral ties worsen, and both are responsible for improving them.
"Some soul-searching is in order about political decisions that have damaged bilateral trust in recent months," the official continued. "By the same token, prudence is required to prevent tensions from contaminating the economic and security aspects of Korea-Japan ties."
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday denounced Japan's move as a "very reckless decision" and warned that Seoul will take corresponding measures.
South Korea later took Japan off its own whitelist of trusted trading partners.
"We are all stronger -- and Northeast Asia is safer -- when the United States, Japan, and Korea work together in solidarity and friendship," the U.S. official said.
A different senior State Department official described Friday's meeting between the top diplomats as a step in the right direction.
"The trilat went well," the official told reporters in Bangkok, according to a transcript released by the State Department. "The fact that we met, the fact that you saw all three parties there, means there is interest in, of course, finding a solution to this or at least resolution."
The official declined to discuss the details of the meeting, including whether Pompeo expressed Washington's position on Tokyo's removal of South Korea from its whitelist.
"But the fact that we all were able to get in the same room together and express each other's positions and identify where each other's interests are was a key step to getting back together," he said. (Yonhap)
