Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Thursday warned of response measures if Japan removes South Korea from its “whitelist” of preferential trade partners.

Kang made the remarks to reporters in Bangkok after holding talks with her Japanese counterpart Minister Taro Kono on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

The foreign minister said she clearly articulated to Kono that grave ramifications would follow if South Korea were removed from the whitelist.

She noted that as Japan claims security concerns are the basis for its trade restrictions, Seoul will also need to review various security systems and cooperation agreements with Tokyo.

On Friday, Tokyo will decide whether to remove South Korea from its trade whitelist in a follow-up move to export curbs on high-tech materials to South Korea introduced on July fourth.

South Korea is the only Asian country on the 27-member list. It’s removal would mean that most Japanese exporters would need to secure individual permits for peninsula-bound shipments, potentially delaying or disrupting nearly all exports to South Korea.

Japan's export restrictions are widely believed to be retaliation for recent Supreme Court rulings in favor of Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.