Kim You-geun, deputy director of the Republic of Korea's presidential national security office, speaks at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, ROK, Aug 22, 2019. (BAE JAE-MAN / YONHAP VIA AP)

SEOUL — The Republic of Korea (ROK) said on Thursday it will scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, a decision that could further escalate a dispute over history and trade and undercut security cooperation on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). 

The decision was announced after an hours-long debate within the presidential National Security Council (NSC). 

The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was due to be automatically renewed on Saturday, unless either side decided to cancel it. 

Japan created a "grave change" in the environment for bilateral security cooperation by removing ROK's fast-track export status, citing security concerns without providing clear evidence, said Kim You-geun, a deputy director of the National Security Council

Japan created a "grave change" in the environment for bilateral security cooperation by removing ROK's fast-track export status, citing security concerns without providing clear evidence, said Kim You-geun, a deputy director of the National Security Council. 

"Under this situation, we have determined that it would not serve our national interest to maintain an agreement we signed with the aim of exchanging military information which is sensitive to security," Kim said at a news conference. 

ROK would deliver a formal notice to Japan within the due date, Kim said. 

There was no immediate reaction from Tokyo, but Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said before the announcement that the deal bolstered security cooperation between the two countries. 

"Although ties between Japan and South Korea are in a very tough situation, we believe we should cooperate with South Korea where cooperation is necessary," Suga told a regular news conference earlier on Thursday. 

The ROK is also referred to as South Korea.

ALSO READ: Japan, S. Korea agree on need for dialogue to repair frayed ties

The decision is likely to be met with dismay in the United States, which fears weakened security cooperation. The accord is important for efforts to fend off DPRK's nuclear and missile threats. 

The US envoy on DPRK, Stephen Biegun, raised the issue during a meeting with ROK's deputy national security adviser, Kim Hyun-chong, before the NSC gathering. 

The United States played a key role in initiating the hard-won GSOMIA, which was clinched in 2016 after a 2012 plan fell apart in the face of domestic opposition in ROK toward military cooperation with old foe Japan. 

Relations between the two US allies are seen at their lowest since they normalized ties in 1965, plagued by bitterness over Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula, which included the use of ROK forced labour at some Japanese firms. 

ROK had warned it could reconsider the GSOMIA after Japan imposed export curbs on some materials vital to ROK chipmakers and stripped ROK of fast-track export status. 

READ MORE: Seoul: Tokyo's export curbs affect ROK-US-Japan security ties

ROK called the Japanese action retaliation for a ROK Supreme Court order for Japanese companies to compensate some of their wartime forced laborers last October. 

Japan condemned the ruling, saying the matter was resolved by a 1965 treaty normalizing ties. Japan cited unspecified security reasons for the export controls.