Japan, South Korea sign intelligence-sharing deal on North Korea threat
Asia-Pacific, News November 23, 2016 1 Comment on Japan, South Korea sign intelligence-sharing deal on North Korea threatSouth Korea and Japan have signed a controversial agreement to pool military intelligence on Pyongyang’s nuclear program
Japan and South Korea have signed a bilateral military intelligence-sharing pact in response to growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.
South Korean Defense Minister Han Min Koo and Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine signed the agreement at a closed ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Seoul. The pact is expected to go into effect at an early date.
The pact is “very significant,” Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters in Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture.
“Cooperation between Japan and South Korea is becoming more important than ever in the security sphere as North Korea’s nuclear (development) and missiles pose a different level of threat from before,” public broadcaster NHK quoted Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida saying.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the accord was “necessary” in the face of growing military threats from Pyongyang, which has conducted two nuclear tests and more than 20 missile launches this year.
“[North Korea] is ready to conduct additional nuclear tests and missile launches at any time,” South Korea’s Defense Ministry said. “Since we can now utilize Japan’s intelligence capability to effectively deal with North Korea’s escalating nuclear and missile threats, it will enhance our security interests.”
Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the agreement will allow the two governments to ” share information even more smoothly and swiftly.”
Both countries wanted to sign such a deal in 2012, but Seoul backtracked at the last minute due to domestic opposition.
The signing of the controversial pact comes as South Korean President Park Geun Hye faces mounting public pressure to voluntarily step down or face impeachment in the wake of an influence-peddling scandal involving her longtime close friend.
Three South Korean opposition parties have strongly protested the deal with Japan and threatened to dismiss the country’s defense minister if the government goes ahead with the signing.
Both Asian powers currently go through Washington when sharing defense intelligence under a deal inked in 2014. But once the new one-year pact, which is automatically renewed annually, enters into effect, the two U.S. allies will be able to directly share information.
“If we can obtain military information on Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs both from the U.S. and Japan, it will greatly strengthen our ability to counter the North’s provocations,” the Yonhap news agency quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying.
Japan and South Korea are obliged to keep military information on Pyongyang secret under the pact, without disclosing anything to a third party, the official added.
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