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 conduct military intelligence talks
By Jun Ji-hye
A meeting between the intelligence bureau chiefs of the South Korean and Japanese defense ministries has raised the likelihood that the two sides will again push for a bilateral agreement in sharing sensitive military information.
Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Friday that Tadashi Miyagawa, the top intelligence officer in Japan’s ministry, arrived here Wednesday for a three-day visit and met his South Korean counterpart, Jo Bo-geun.
The ministry stressed that the two discussed general issues only, such as threats from North Korea and the state of affairs in Northeast Asian region.
“Whether to resume the suspended discussion on the signing of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) or whether to hold Seoul-Tokyo defense ministers’ talks was not discussed,” the ministry said.
However, military observers say GSOMIA being on the agenda cannot be ruled out as Japan has been pressuring Seoul to resume talks to strengthen the two sides’ defense capabilities against missile and nuclear threats from the North.
During the 14th Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, which took place in Singapore in late May, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani called on his South Korean counterpart, Han Min-koo, to review the signing of the GSOMIA.
The two were close to signing a bilateral agreement on direct and comprehensive intelligence sharing in June 2012 when former President Lee Myung-bak was in power. But it fell through at the last minute because of fierce public criticism of the government’s secretive handling of negotiations.
However, there are growing signs of a restoration of the strained relations between the two nations and a resumption of GSOMIA talks.
President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended ceremonies in Seoul and Tokyo on June 22 to mark the 50th anniversary of the restoration diplomatic ties between the two nations. This hinted at a change in their icy relations resulting from the latter’s conservative outlook.
Tokyo’s push for GSOMIA was highlighted when it sent a top intelligence officer in its police agency last month for meetings with Seoul’s intelligence agencies, including the National Intelligence Service and the Defense Security Command.
But Seoul has shown a cautious attitude regarding the signing, apparently wary of public sentiment against its former colonial ruler.
Tadashi Miyagawa was initially planning to visit Seoul on June 15 and 16 soon after the Japanese defense minister brought the issue to the negotiation table in Singapore. But the visit fell through after Tokyo strongly protested against Seoul’s Defense Ministry, which provided information about the visit to the public at its regular briefing on June 2.
Mindful of such protests, the ministry made this visit confidential. It confirmed the visit only after media reported the story, causing public criticism of diplomatic pussyfooting on Japan.
The ministry said: “The ministry carries out a number of military intelligence discussions with not only Japan but also many other countries, and we do not reveal all the information to the public.”
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