In just a matter of hours, we'll know whether Japan will press ahead with plans to remove South Korea from its 'whitelist' of countries that receive preferential trade treatment.
The cabinet vote is due on this Friday in Tokyo and comes amid Japan's already stifling exports curbs on Seoul.
On Thursday, Seoul's top diplomat met her Japanese counterpart to try and persuade him to avoid making the situation worse.
However, no breakthrough was forthcoming... and the trade spat looks set to get even worse.
Our foreign affairs correspondent Lee Ji-won files this report from Bangkok.
For the first time since Japan imposed trade restrictions on Seoul in July,... foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan sat down on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Thailand on Thursday morning.

The talk went on for about an hour,... longer than initially scheduled.
But there was no surprise,... as Japan seemed to remain firm that it will take South Korea off the whitelist of countries with preferential trade conditions on Friday, according to a senior official at South Korea's foreign ministry.

He said the two sides could not close their gap, but no new solution or proposal to the issue was raised by either side.
Japan reportedly reiterated its request for the South Korean government to solve the forced labor ruling, in which a South Korean court ruled last year that Japanese firms must compensate Koreans who were forced to work for them during Japan's colonial rule.
Japan cites security concerns as the reason for its trade restrictions, but repeated connection by Japan of the trade issue and the forced labor ruling hints that the trade measures are ultimately a retaliatory move.
The official says Minister Kang brought up that connection to Kono and strongly urged Japan to not worsen the situation and solve it through dialogue.

"We need some time to discuss and agree on the forced labor ruling or Japan's trade restrictions on Seoul. It's normal for two countries with disputes to find a solution through such talks,... so I strongly emphasized the need for that to Minister Kono."

While the South Korean officials did not clearly comment on the report that Washington has proposed a standstill agreement, which would put the dispute on hold and give the two countries time to talk it out,... Kang's such call for time is seen to be in line with such a proposal.

And in response to Japan's "security concerns",... Kang hinted that Seoul might choose not to renew the two countries' military information-sharing pact at the end of this month.

"If Japan decides to take South Korea off its whitelist, we are going to have to take necessary countermeasures as well. Japan cited security concerns for its trade restrictions on Seoul, so we told them that we have no choice but to review various security related ties as well."

The two ministers are to meet again on Friday, together with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Pompeo had hinted on mediating the two sides,... but