Japan's foreign minister has denied Tokyo apologized over apparently conflicting accounts by its trade ministry over behind-the-scene agreements regarding Seoul’s decision to keep in place a bilateral military intel-sharing pact. 

In a press conference Tuesday, Toshimitsu Motegi rebuffed South Korean media reports that a minister for political affairs at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul delivered the apology from a Japanese vice foreign minister. 

The reports came after Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry drew South Korea’s ire by claiming Tokyo made no concessions in Seoul’s U-turn last Friday on the General Security of Military Information Agreement(GSOMIA). 

South Korean National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong later criticized the Japanese ministry for distorting what he called agreements behind the South Korean decision to keep the pact alive, including Tokyo’s promise to reconsider its trade restrictions on Seoul. 

Motegi, however, noted the two countries’ agreement to launch discussions over Japan’s export curbs and stressed their importance.