Abe was speaking to reporters on Friday, a day after Seoul announced the decision to end an intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan amid a dispute over compensation for South Koreans pressed into wartime labour during Japan’s occupation of Korea.
“We will continue to closely coordinate with the US to ensure regional peace and prosperity, as well as Japan's security,” Abe said, noting that he will continue to urge South Korea "to keep promises" made in the past.
Relations between the East Asian neighbours began to deteriorate late last year following a South Korean Supreme Court order that Japanese companies must provide compensation to victims of forced labour during the Japanese colonisation of the Korean Peninsula between 1910-1945. Japan condemned the ruling, saying the matter was resolved by a 1965 treaty normalising ties.