November will be a busy month for South Korea in terms of defense and security matters.
Seoul and Washington are set to discuss defense agenda items next week, including but not limited to defense cost-sharing.
Seoul is also expected to face intensified pressure from Japan and the U.S. to overturn its decision to terminate its military intel-sharing pact ahead of its expiration in late November.
Kim Hyo-sun reports.
The defense chiefs of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are set to attend the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus held in Thailand from November 16th to 19th.
As the meeting comes right before the expiration of the General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, on November 22nd,... Tokyo and Washington are expected to up the pressure on Seoul to withdraw its decision to terminate the military intel-sharing agreement.
"I'm a half-glass-full person as well. I'm hopeful that they'll get beyond this."
On November 15th, the defense chiefs of Seoul and Washington are scheduled to sit down in Seoul to discuss pending issues between the two allies.
The allies' joint crisis management manual which stipulates the role of the ROK-U.S. Combined Command in case a crisis breaks out on the Korean Peninsula will be one of the major agenda items for that meeting.
Washington has proposed that the manual be revised so the concept of crisis warranting a joint response includes not only contingencies on the Korean Peninsula, but also those of the U.S.
Such a revision would lay the legal ground for the U.S. to request Seoul send troops to jointly deal with situations in other parts of the world, including the Middle East and South China Sea.
The issue of defense cost-sharing is also expected to be a hotly debated topic as Washington has requested Seoul to pay up to 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, which is six times more than South Korea paid this year.
"I will exert my utmost effort to strike a win-win deal for the South Korea-U.S. alliance."
Seoul and Washington are also set to discuss the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean forces from Washington to Seoul .
They will also talk about Washington's proposal for intensifying the role of the UN Command in managing crises on the Korean Peninsula even after OPCON is returned to South Korea.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.
