Seoul’s Renewed Interest in Intelligence Sharing with Tokyo
The Ministry of National Defense of South Korea announced on November 11 that it will finalize an agreement to share military information with Japan. The two nations had originally drafted the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) in 2012, but it failed to pass due to the South Korean public’s negative perception of the pact as a “secretive negotiation” and nationwide resistance to military cooperation with Japan. “Based on the discussions in 2012, South Korea and Japan were able to arrange the draft in a short period of time through two rounds of discussion,” said Moon Sang-kyun, a Defense Ministry spokesman. Stressing the heightening nuclear threat from Pyongyang, which has conducted two tests and over twenty ballistic missile tests this year alone, he claimed that the GSOMIA is a necessity.
Under GSOMIA, the two nations will define exchange methods, types of shared information, and management system. Starting a new discussion with Japan, the South Korean military hopes for a more direct and rapid way to detect North Korea’s movement for any possible military provocation. “In case of crisis in Korean peninsula, South Korea-Japan security cooperation is necessary to mutually supplement the current trilateral system with the United States and Japan,” wrote Kim Soung-chul, a diplomatic strategy researcher from Sejong Institute.
Japan’s military intelligence capacity far exceeds that of South Korea. The Japanese military maintains a raft of early warning aircrafts and six Aegis destroyers equipped with cutting-edge radar technology. “There is an increasing need to promote the intelligence cooperation with Japan in addition to the existing trilateral partnership involving the U.S.,” Moon added. South Korea and Japan have previously maintained a trilateral information-sharing system with the United States as a communication channel.
Yet the Korean public holds a sour view on the newly discussed pact with Japan. Lawmakers and civic groups criticized the suddenly renewed drive for the agreement as an attempt to avert public attention from the political turmoil precipitated by President Park and her political confidante, Choi Soon-sil. Furthermore, they argued that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has failed to deliver a sincere apology for Japan’s crimes during World War II in Korea.
Facing public criticism, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense assured its citizens that their negotiators would carry out the consultation in a “transparent and open” manner. When the two nations finalize the agreement next week, Japan will become the twenty-fifth country to sign the GSOMIA with South Korea, following the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Israel.