The president of South Korea has urged Japan to remove the restrictions it has placed on exports in his first public response to the diplomatic spat.

According to Bloomberg, Moon Jae-in has called on his country's neighbour to "return to the principle of free trade that Japan has been pushing for" and warned he plans to "take responsive measures" if the restrictions result in economic damage to Korean businesses.

The Japanese government imposed tighter controls on exports to South Korea of three semiconductor materials last week. While these restrictions do not amount to a ban, exporters will now need a separate licence each time they want to sell such materials to South Korea.

Furthermore, Japan is also considering removing South Korea from its list of trusted export markets, which could result in a wider range of products being affected.

It is feared the move could have a significant impact on South Korea's technology industry, as well as leading to a slowdown in the production of smartphones and other devices globally.