President Moon Jae-in has again denounced Japan’s export curbs on South Korea, describing the implementation of the restrictions as a "no-win" situation that harms all participants in the global economy, including Japan.

Moon made the remark on Thursday while chairing a National Economic Advisory Council meeting at the top office. 

He said he cannot envision what benefits Japan would receive from its unilateral trade restrictions, adding that any advantages on Tokyo's behalf would be ephemeral.

In particular, Moon said Japan has enjoyed the fruits of free trade and had been an active supporter of it, thus making Tokyo's latest action against South Korea "extremely self-contradictory."

The president said any country that weaponizes a field that they have an upper hand in harms the international free trade order. 

He added that Japan will ultimately lose the trust of the international community and Japanese companies will lose market demand.

He said Tokyo's measures are economic retaliation against South Korean Supreme Court rulings last year that ordered Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of wartime forced labor.