President Moon Jae-in speaks about his government's resolve to deal with the trade dispute with Japan during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that Japan was inflicting a serious challenge to his government by linking sanctions against North Korea with its recent export restrictions targeting South Korean companies.

The President warned that Japan would end up with more damage from its economic retaliation against a ruling by the Supreme Court here that ordered Japanese firms to compensate Koreans forced to work for them during Tokyo's colonial rule of the peninsula.

In yet another highly critical public message, Moon called on Japan to drop the false claims it is making against Korea to justify the export curbs and return to diplomatic negotiations.

"I must first point out that it is extremely unwise for Japan to make the unprecedented move of linking economic and historical issues," he said during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae.

The President underscored the false claims Japan has been making to justify the export restrictions. "At first, Tokyo cited the Supreme Court's ruling on forced laborers as grounds for imposing them but later, after it failed to gain any international support, changed its tune to claim that Korea was smuggling strategic materials to North Korea and violating sanctions against the regime," Moon said. "The allegations are a grave affront to our government which has strictly adhered to United Nations security resolutions and has done its utmost for inter-Korean relations and peace within the boundaries of the U.N. sanctions."