A provisional deal was reached in Tokyo on Monday evening on the General Security of Military Information Agreement, which aims to enhance cooperation in coping with North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats. It does not require parliamentary ratification.

A previous effort to sign the deal was derailed in 2012 in the face of strong public disapproval in Seoul.

The opposition parties have threatened to unseat the defense minister if he pushes through the deal this time, without public consensus.

The tentative signing came less than two weeks after talks reopened between the two countries on military intelligence sharing. The first working-level meeting was held on Nov. 1. Seoul and Tokyo had made official the negotiation’s resumption on Oct. 27.

In 2012, many South Koreans had viewed a military cooperation deal with Japan, which had formerly colonized Korea, as inappropriate, particularly as the neighbor, with a history of imperialism, was seeking to boost its military posturing in the region.

The necessity of military information sharing has increased, Defense Minister Han asserted, as North Korea is apparently racing toward nuclear armament. In 2016, Pyongyang conducted two nuclear tests and test-fired over 20 missiles, including its first successful launch of the intermediate-range Musudan and a submarine-launched KN-11.

The ministry has been emphasizing the benefits South Korea will gain from Japan’s superior intelligence assets, namely its six Aegis destroyers, advanced radar technology and numerous anti-submarine reconnaissance equipment.

The two countries have been indirectly sharing information via the Trilateral Information Sharing Arrangement signed by South Korea, the US and Japan in 2014. But military officials have cited the need for faster and more direct exchange of information.

The US Defense Department on Monday welcomed the provisional signing of a military intelligence sharing agreement between South Korea and Japan.

“We noted the recent media reports that the Governments of the Republic of Korea and Japan reached a provisional agreement on a bilateral General Security of Military Information Agreement,” Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, told Yonhap News Agency.

“A potential ROK-Japan GSOMIA could strengthen cooperation between our two closest allies in Northeast Asia, particularly in light of the growing threat posed by North Korea,” he said.

From news report (khnews@heraldcorp.com)