Mainichi, Sankei, and Nikkei highlighted remarks made yesterday by ROK President Moon to his cabinet ministers. He reportedly chastised Japan over export control and history issues. Speaking on Japan’s decision to tighten regulations on Korea-bound exports of sensitive materials, Moon reportedly said: “Japan has not been honest in disclosing its reason for economic retaliation. It has attempted to justify the action by changing its arguments groundlessly and frequently.” He also accused Japan of being dishonest when it comes to bilateral history disputes. According to Mainichi, Moon spent almost half of his ten-minute-long remarks criticizing Japan.

Meanwhile, Yomiuri reported on Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga’s comments on Thursday concerning the status of relations between Tokyo and Seoul. He was quoted as saying: “The state of the bilateral relationship continues to be very severe because the South Koreans have taken negative and unreasonable steps one after another.”