“South Korea and Japan will hold a third round of working-level talks and tentatively sign the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) next week,” Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said in a press briefing. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea plans to tentatively sign a bilateral pact with Japan on sharing military intelligence on North Korea as early as next week despite strong objection from opposition parties, according to the defense ministry Friday.
The two sides last week reopened negotiations in Tokyo after a botched attempt four years ago. They initiated the pact in 2012, but Seoul suspended its signing as opposition parties and civic groups claimed the deal was arranged too hastily and in secret.
“South Korea and Japan will hold a third round of working-level talks and tentatively sign the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) next week,” Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said in a press briefing.
In the two rounds of talks held in Tokyo on Nov. 1 and Seoul on Nov. 9, they reached an agreement on major terms. The defense ministry has asked the Korea Ministry of Government Legislation (MOLEG) to review the agreed terms through the foreign ministry, Moon said.
After the initial review by the MOLEG, the agreement will be examined by related vice ministers and then sent to the Cabinet for approval this month. All the procedures will be handled by the foreign ministry, the spokesman said.
In the past two rounds of talks, the two agreed on these terms: intelligence information obtained by them should not be provided to a third country without each other’s approval; only permitted officials will gain access to military information; a notice to the information providing country should be made immediately if information is lost or damaged, the ministry said.
The pact, if clinched, will likely set the stage for both countries to share more extensive military information on North Korea. Seoul will get access to intelligence collected by Japan’s surveillance satellites and Aegis-equipped destroyers.
In December 2014, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan signed a preliminary deal that calls for voluntary sharing of military secrets on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
The deal allowed Seoul and Tokyo to share such intelligence via the U.S. after their bilateral pact fell through in 2012.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo has told lawmakers that the bilateral pact would help Seoul counter increasing threats from the nuclear-armed communist regime.
But opposition parties said that it is still inappropriate to ink the information-sharing deal, given Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has not sincerely apologized for Japan’s wartime wrongdoings while moving to expand Japan’s military role overseas.
North Korea’s repeated provocations provided strong momentum for Seoul and Tokyo to resume discussions about GSOMIA. The communist country conducted two nuclear tests this year alone following detonations of nuclear devices in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
Defying international condemnation, North Korea has also test-fired more than 20 ballistic missiles so far this year including intermediate-range Musudan and submarine-launched missiles.
Currently, Seoul maintains pacts with 32 countries on sharing military information. It has recently asked China to start negotiations on such a pact, but China has not responded yet.
(Yonhap)
