SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's presidential Blue House said Friday that it decided to suspend the scheduled termination of the military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).
Kim You-geun, deputy director of the National Security Office (NSO) of the Blue House, made the remark during a televised press conference, saying the "effectiveness of the GSOMIA expiration notification" will be halted.
"Our government made the decision under the premise that (South Korea) can end the effectiveness of the GSOMIA at any time," Kim said.
The announcement came just about six hours before the scheduled expiration of the GSOMIA at midnight Saturday.
Kim said the government also decided to suspend the ongoing petition process with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against Japan's export curbs while trade talks between Seoul and Tokyo go on normally.
The comments indicated that South Korea would delay the GSOMIA termination under the conditions that the two sides make efforts to resolve the bilateral trade dispute.
