North Korea's propaganda outlet mentions Seoul's GSOMIA termination for first time
Participants from a North Korea military band perform during the Spasskaya Tower international military music festival in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2019. AP
A North Korean propaganda outlet mentioned South Korea's recent decision to end a military information-sharing deal with Japan for the first time Tuesday, citing a South Korean media report that strongly supports the move.
South Korea decided not to extend the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) last week, citing a "grave change" in security cooperation conditions and Tokyo's refusal to accept Seoul's dialogue proposals.
Seoul and Tokyo signed GSOMIA in 2016, which was aimed at exchanging sensitive intelligence in the face of growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. The decision to terminate the pact was made amid an intensifying feud over wartime history and trade with Japan.
North Korean media outlets have called for an end to GSOMIA, calling it a stepping stone for Japan toward reinvading the Korean Peninsula, but they have not directly mentioned the latest decision to terminate the deal.
Meari, one of North Korea's propaganda outlets, mentioned the issue for the first time, though indirectly, by carrying the entire editorial of a South Korean internet media company, Voice of People.
In the editorial, Voice of People praised the decision to terminate the information-sharing deal, saying it represents the Seoul government's strong will to deny any possible diplomatic humiliation and that there is no procedural problem in the process.
Meari did not mention the issue directly, nor did it provide any comments. But it appears aimed at expressing its support for the latest decision by carrying the entire text of the editorial.
The decision to end the deal came in response to Japan's move to take South Korea off a list of trusted trading partners in apparent retaliation against Seoul's Supreme Court ruling last year on wartime forced labor during Tokyo's 1910-45 colonization of Korea.
The deal is set to expire Nov. 23. (Yonhap)