S. Korea, US bristle at each other over GSOMIA termination

South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young summoned U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday to complain about ranking U.S. officials' repeated public messaging against Seoul's decision to terminate a military information-sharing pact with Japan. Korea Times file

South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young on Wednesday urged the United States to refrain from public messaging against Seoul's recent decision to terminate a military information-sharing pact with Japan, a source here said.

Cho summoned U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris to make the request as Washington has repeatedly expressed disappointment and concerns in a rare public rebuke of Seoul's decision to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).

Amid a row over trade and wartime history with Tokyo, Seoul announced the decision last Thursday to withdraw from GSOMIA, which is seen as a rare platform to promote the two countries' trilateral defense cooperation with their mutual ally, Washington.

During his talks with Harris, Cho pointed out that Washington's open, repeated messages against Seoul's decision would not be helpful in strengthening the bilateral alliance and that Seoul is fully aware of the U.S. position on the matter, the source said.

In a press release, the foreign ministry said that Cho told Harris that Seoul's decision on GSOMIA has nothing to do with the South Korea-U.S. alliance and that it will continue to maintain trilateral security cooperation with the U.S. and Japan and strive to further develop the bilateral alliance with Washington.

Washington has expressed "strong concern" and "disappointment" over Seoul's move to end GSOMIA, raising concerns about an apparent deterioration of the long-standing partnership between the allies.

Earlier this week, Morgan Ortagus, the spokeswoman of the U.S. State Department, even tweeted that the termination of GSOMIA will make defending Korea more complicated and increase risk to U.S. forces. (Yonhap)

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper holds his first news conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., August 28, 2019. He expressed disappointment Wednesday over an ongoing dispute between South Korea and Japan that recently led to Seoul's decision to terminate an intelligence sharing pact with Tokyo. REUTERS

US 'disappointed' again

The United States' top defense leaders expressed disappointment Wednesday over an ongoing dispute between South Korea and Japan that recently led to Seoul's decision to terminate an intelligence sharing pact with Tokyo.

At a joint press conference at the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford said they believe it is in the interest of all three countries to work together.

But in a departure from previous statements from the Pentagon or the State Department, the two appeared to direct their disappointment at both parties, not just South Korea.

"I was and I remain very disappointed that both parties are engaged in this," Esper said, adding that he is hopeful South Korea and Japan will be able to resolve their differences.
"We have common threats facing us ― North Korea and China, and bigger threats. And we're stronger when we all work together," he said.

Dunford said he has not seen any impact on military operations from Seoul's decision to pull out of the General Security of Military Information Agreement.

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"But I share the secretary's disappointment in what I view as a setback in the relationship between South Korea and Japan. I think that's a very important relationship," he said.

South Korea announced its decision to pull out of GSOMIA last week, citing Japan's refusal to hold talks on resolving separate disputes on trade and shared history.

Washington has expressed concern and disappointment at the decision, saying the move creates challenges for trilateral security cooperation against North Korea's nuclear threats and China's military rise.

In Seoul, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young met with U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris on Wednesday to ask that Washington stop airing its grievances.

Whether Esper and Dunford reflected that request in their comments is unclear.

But only hours earlier, Randall Schriver, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, reiterated Washington's concerns and called on South Korea to renew the pact.

GSOMIA is currently set to expire in late November.

Esper said the three countries share more interests and values than they do not, and need to collectively think about North Korea in the near term and China in the long term.

The focus should be on "how do we work together, how do we broaden our partnerships, strengthen our alliance and make sure we're prepared for the future," he said.

Asked if the U.S. has contingency plans to deal with any fallout from the pact's termination, Dunford assured reporters there are other measures in place.

"We have other ways of sharing information, obviously none as effective as a very strong bilateral information sharing agreement between the two countries, but there are other mechanisms in place to allow us to deal with an alliance crisis or contingency," he said.

On North Korea's recent tests of short-range ballistic missiles, Esper said the U.S is concerned about them but will not "overreact" in the interest of renewing denuclearization talks.

"We're concerned about their short-range ballistic missile tests. We want to understand what they're doing, why they're doing, etc," he said. "But on the other hand, we're not going to overreact. We want to take a measured response and make sure that we don't close the door to diplomacy."

Expressing confidence that North Korea's "irreversible, verifiable, complete denuclearization" will be achieved, he stressed that the best way to meet that objective is through a political agreement.

North Korea has conducted seven rounds of missile tests since late July in apparent anger over Seoul-Washington military exercises that ended last week.

U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed them as unimportant, saying they do not violate an agreement by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to refrain from long-range missile or nuclear tests.

Trump said earlier this month that in a letter to him, Kim stated his desire to resume denuclearization negotiations as soon as the exercises were over, but those talks have yet to take place.

Dunford also addressed reports that North Korea is building a new ballistic missile submarine and could be preparing for a test.

"I don't have anything to add to what has already been reported in the open press," he said. (Yonhap)