"If it's what Japan intends to be, it will never succeed", Moon added.
Japan has tightened restrictions on the export of three materials used in high-tech equipment, officially citing what it has called "inadequate management" of sensitive items exported to South Korea, as well as a lack of consultations about export controls.
South Korea denies the allegations.
The first face-to-face discussions between Japan and South Korea about the export controls on Friday exposed deep divides between the two USA allies, with each side providing differing accounts of what was said. He demanded that Japan provide evidence for claims made by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his conservative aides that there may have been illegal transfers of sensitive materials from South Korea to North Korea.
He stressed that his country will overcome this situation as it did in the past with the help of people's power.
The UN reports indicate Japan has been lax about its export controls on North Korea, although it imposed trade restrictions against South Korea, accusing Seoul of smuggling sensitive materials out to North Korea in violation of worldwide sanctions.
That's according to Lee Ho-hyeon, a South Korean trade ministry official who briefed reporters on Friday after export officials from the two countries met in Tokyo for almost six hours over the bitter trade dispute.
North Korea today said South Korea's planned deployment of new USA stealth fighter jets was an "extremely unsafe action" that would compel it to use "special armaments" to shoot them down.
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South Korea has said the reports were groundless and it has been doing a better job than Japan in keeping track of illicit exports. The official who briefed reporters on the meeting said the decision on export curbs was not related to what has been reported.
Moon also said South Korea will use the dispute as an opportunity to reduce its dependence on Japan by strengthening its technology industry and diversifying import sources.
Japan's measure, which went into effect earlier this month, has stoked public anger in South Korea, where many believe Japan still hasn't fully acknowledged responsibility for atrocities committed during its colonial occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting with executives from South Korea's top 30 conglomerates at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, July 10, 2019. "Even more Japanese products could have gone to North Korea through the worldwide black market". Retailers have also reported modest drops in sales of Japanese beer.
"We express deep regret that senior Japanese officials have been recently making irresponsible comments without presenting a clear basis for them, suggesting our government was violating export controls and not enforcing sanctions", Kim told a media briefing.
Tokyo says the materials affected by the export controls can be sent only to trustworthy trading partners.
South Korea is calling for removal of the restrictions, which it says are retaliation for its handling of a dispute over wartime labor, and has threatened to take the matter to the World Trade Organization.
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