ⓒYONHAP News

President Moon Jae-in has called on Japan to stop heading towards a "dead-end" with "politically-motivated" export restrictions against South Korea.

Hosting the leaders of the country's 30 largest conglomerates for roundtable talks at the presidential office on Wednesday, Moon said Tokyo's moves are groundless and "undesirable" for bilateral ties and security cooperation.

"Most of all, the government is doing its best to resolve this issue diplomatically. I hope Japan positively responds to that. I hope [Japan] does not drive the situation further into a dead end. The Japanese government took measures to damage our economy for its own political gains and made remarks linking [the measures] to the sanctions on North Korea, but doing all this is never desirable for bilateral friendly relations and security ties."

"It is of course not beneficial to either of our economies and may also have negative effects on the global economy. We will pursue international collaboration to [resolve this issue.]"

Moon's remarks come after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seemingly accused South Korea of failing to fulfill sanctions against the North, suggesting this may have been the reason for Japan's recent export curbs on three high-tech materials.

Moon stressed his administration was doing its best to diplomatically resolve the export control situation.

Facing an "unprecedented crisis" that could stretch on, the president emphasized the need for a government-civilian crisis response system to maintain open communication between the government and businesses.

"As part of short-term measures, the government will actively support local companies so they can diversify their import origins, expand domestic production and adopt key foreign technologies in order to minimize damage."

"In terms of fundamental measures, regardless of how things end, this situation should serve as an opportunity to drastically increase the domestic development rate of our key technologies, key parts and materials and equipment, so that our main industries' are less dependent on foreign countries."

Moon also vowed support for diversification of import channels and increased domestic production to minimize the potential damage on local firms, while speeding up administrative procedures and expanding tech development funds in the government's extra budget.

Seoul, which may soon take the case to the World Trade Organization(WTO), sought support from the international community in reversing Tokyo's restrictions.

Speaking at WTO headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday, South Korea's ambassador to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva Paik Ji-ah lamented Japan's export curbs, saying they inflict serious damage to the value of free trade.

Paik also demanded the Japanese government provide a clear explanation for its measures and called for their immediate retraction, contending Tokyo's claims regarding an erosion of bilateral trust are not justifiable under WTO rules.