Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Seoul-Tokyo to expand military exchanges
By Jun Ji-hye
Korea and Japan plan to expand military exchanges amid growing signs of an improvement in the strained relationship between the two countries.
A Ministry of National Defense official said Wednesday bilateral defense talks will likely begin in autumn.
Working-level officials from the two sides will discuss various pending issues including how to deal with escalating threats from North Korea. They will also discuss follow-up measures on an agreement made at the end of last month between their defense chiefs in Singapore, the official said.
During the bilateral meeting on May 30, Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani agreed to conduct in-depth working-level discussions regarding Japan’s right to collective self-defense ― the use of force to support an ally under attack.
Defense sources also expect that the working-level talks will have Nakatani visiting Seoul within this year on the agenda, given that the defense chiefs’ latest meeting only took place on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
With expectations rising of stronger ties, tourism and finance ministers of the two nations have already held meetings in Tokyo in April and May, respectively.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se also visited the neighboring nation from Sunday to Monday to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties and met with his Japanese counterpart.
A Japanese defense chief last visited Seoul in January 2011.
For their part, the Army, Navy and Air Force are planning to make exchanges with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in their respective areas.
The navies of South Korea and Japan will carry out joint Search and Rescue Exercise, or SAREX, in October when Japan plans to host a naval review in Yokosuka. The biennial drill, which began in 1999, is designed to strengthen their joint capabilities in responding to maritime disasters.
“The Navy decided to send its vessels to the review and conduct the joint drill,” a Navy official said.
Military cooperation between the two sides has made little progress since the signing of the bilateral agreement to share sensitive military information fell through at the last minute in June 2012. At that time, the signing of the General Security of Military Information Agreement brought fierce public criticism of the Lee Myung-bak government’s secretive handling of negotiations.
Since then, the military exchanges have had no chance of improving as conflicts over historical and territorial issues continued between the two governments.
Positive signs for change have grown after President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended events in each other’s countries on Monday to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan.
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