The United States "recommends" South Korea and Japan seek "creative solutions" to resolve a growing trade dispute between the two nations, a State Department official said Friday.

Earlier Friday (Seoul time), Japan decided to remove South Korea from its "whitelist" of nations given preferential treatment in export procedures, further escalating trade and political tensions between the two countries.

This photo shows South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (L), U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (C) and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bangkok on Aug. 2, 2019. (Yonhap)

Seoul and Tokyo have been locked in a bitter row since early July, when Japan tightened export controls against South Korea in apparent retaliation for a court ruling on wartime forced labor. (Yonhap)

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