Fate of Military Info Pact Focal Point in Japan-S. Korea Tensions

Tokyo, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)--Whether a military information-sharing pact between Japan and South Korea will be extended is emerging as a new focal point amid the worsening bilateral ties, with the South Korean side suggesting the possibility of withdrawing from the accord as a countermeasure to Japan's stricter export controls on the neighboring country. The United States is concerned about the situation because South Korea's possible exit from the general security of military information agreement, or GSOMIA, would deal a blow to the defense cooperation among Tokyo, Washington and Seoul. The GSOMIA allows Japan and South Korea to share defense secrets, making it possible for them to promptly exchange, for instance, information on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. Tokyo and Seoul also have access to information collected by the United States. The one-year pact, signed in November 2016, is renewed automatically every year unless either of the two countries informs the other of an intention to scrap it before Aug. 24, or 90 days before the expiration date. It has been renewed twice. According to sources in the Japanese Defense Ministry, the United States pushed the conclusion of the Japan-South Korea pact. Amid military expansion by China and North Korea, the United States apparently believes that the cooperation among the three allies is essential for the country to maintain its military advantage in East Asia. On July 18, after Japan tightened its controls on semiconductor materials exports to South Korea earlier that month, a senior South Korean government official indicated the possibility of pulling the country out of the military information-sharing pact as a measure against the Japanese action. On Friday, the Japanese government, as additional action, made a cabinet decision to cancel the designation of South Korea as a trusted trading partner qualified for preferential treatment in export procedures. At a bilateral meeting in Bangkok on Thursday, the day before the fresh Japanese action, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told her Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, that Seoul would consider taking necessary measures if Japan's cabinet decided to cancel the trusted trading partner designation. The possibility of South Korea actually walking out of the GSOMIA in protest to Japan cannot be ruled out, pundits said. The Japanese side has been calling for the pact to be extended. The GSOMIA "is helping Japan and South Korea strengthen their collaboration in the field of security and contributing to regional peace and security," Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told a press conference on Friday. But no clues to breaking the diplomatic deadlock between Japan and South Korea were found at a Bangkok meeting among Kono, Kang and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday. "Prudence is required to prevent tensions from contaminating the economic and security aspects" of the Japan-South Korea ties, a U.S. Department of State official said, calling on the two Asian allies to respond calmly to the situation. While tensions between Tokyo and Seoul are running high, North Korea, taking this opportunity, bitterly criticized the GSOMIA and urged Seoul to withdraw from the pact on its website for publicity to the South. END