정경두 "지소미아 연장 신중히 검토 중... 日, 수출규제를 안보문제와 연계"
South Korea is mulling termination of the military intel sharing pact with Japan.
A move that may be deemed necessary as bilateral tensions worsen due to Tokyo's retaliatory trade measures.
Oh Jung-hee has the details.
South Korea is carefully considering whether to terminate its information sharing agreement with Japan.
That's according to South Korea's defense chief at a parliamentary meeting on Monday.
Jeong Kyeong-doo said... the government originally wanted to extend the information sharing agreement with Japan by another year... but is now carefully considering scrapping that... as Japan recently linked its export curbs to security issues.
"We are prudently reviewing the matter, considering various terms comprehensively as there are factors which the public could be insecure about. Nothing has been decided yet."
With South Korea and Japan both being U.S. allies, their militaries have been sharing information under a three-year deal which needs to be renewed later this month.
That deal, known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement or GSOMIA, was signed in 2016.
According to Seoul's defense ministry, Japan has provided Seoul with data gathered by Japan's satellites... regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles.
And South Korea has been sharing levels two and three of its three levels of classified military information with Japan.
If Seoul looks likely to terminate the deal, this could prompt Washington to step in as a mediator in the trade dispute.
Washington sees the information sharing agreement as a key element of the three countries' security cooperation,... particularly in achieving the final, fully, verified denuclearization of North Korea... as well as countering China's influence in Northeast Asia.
The deadline for South Korea to notify Japan whether it's terminating GSOMIA is August 24th... otherwise, it'll be automatically extended for another year.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
