U.S. Diplomat Vows to Push Seoul to Keep GSOMIA

Tokyo, Nov. 20 (Jiji Press)--Joseph Young, charge d'affaires ad interim at the U.S. embassy in Japan, said Wednesday that Washington will continue to call on South Korea to renew its military information-sharing pact with Japan, which is set to expire soon following Seoul's decision in August to scrap it. The bilateral General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, allows effective coordination and discussions among the United States, Japan and South Korea, especially in the event of emergencies, Young said in an interview with Jiji Press. Once the pact runs out, the United States will work as a liaison between the two East Asian nations to help them share information, but the method is not as effective as the GSOMIA, he said. The pact is set to expire at midnight Friday (3 p.m. GMT). The three allies would need to get in contact with one another swiftly and simultaneously in case an emergency occurs, Young said, noting that the pact enabled them to instantly share information and communicate with one another when North Korea fired a short-range missile weeks ago. Young said Washington is talking with Seoul to prevent the pact from lapsing. On forthcoming negotiations between Tokyo and Washington on Japan's host-nation financial support for U.S. forces in the country for fiscal 2021 and later, Young said that the United States is poised to ask its allies for fair and appropriate burden-sharing in terms of security responsibility. Pointing out that the security situation in East Asia is increasingly tough, Young said the United States hopes that it and Japan will be able to deal with new risks by bringing in more of their respective resources. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly asked Japan to increase its annual host-nation support by 4.5-fold. But Young declined to comment on this, saying that bilateral negotiations have yet to start. Meanwhile, Young welcomed Japan's ongoing study on dispatching Self-Defense Forces troops to the Middle East to gather information and secure the safety of ships traveling in the region. Once Tokyo makes a decision on the dispatch, the United States and Japan would be able to discuss how they can share related information, Young said. END