South Korea and Japan have temporarily suspended planned military exchange programs between the sides, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday, in the wake of worsening public sentiment over a continued territorial stand-off, Korean Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday. Exchanges between the Japanese and South Korean militaries have deepened in recent years, but bilateral relations between the two nations have soured quickly after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made an unprecedented visit to the easternmost islets of Dokdo on Aug. 10. Tokyo proposed Seoul refer the issue of Dokdo to the International Court of Justice, but Seoul rejected its proposal saying it is “not worth consideration.”