By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea, the United States and Japan have signed a pact to share sensitive intelligence on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs amid increased threats to the region made by the repressive state, the Ministry of National Defense said Monday.
The pact became effective at midnight Monday (Korean Time) after a trilateral arrangement was signed last week by Seoul’s Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts Robert Work and Masanori Nishi, respectively. The arrangement was delivered to the U.S. side earlier in the day, the ministry said.
It is the first such agreement that would open the door for Seoul and its former colonial ruler to share military secrets. However, the two countries will not directly share their intelligence in a move to calm public resistance to the move that stems from the bitter memory of Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Under the signed pact, Washington will mediate between Seoul and Tokyo upon their respective approval to pool their information.
“The three countries now plan to have follow-up consultations to determine the level of information to be shared,” said a defense ministry official. “The discussions will be about what kind of information will be provided under what circumstances.”
The U.S. Department of Defense said the arrangement would help the three countries respond to possible provocations from the communist state in a swifter fashion.
“In particular, information sharing among the signatories on the nuclear and missile threats posed by North Korea will allow for a more effective response to future provocations and during contingencies,” said the Pentagon in a statement.
The agreement came two years after a bilateral intelligence-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo foundered at the last minute due to fierce public criticism of the government’s secretive handling of negotiations.
However, abundant criticism remains amid concerns that the pact could lead South Korea to joining the U.S.-led missile defense system, heightening tensions in Northeast Asia.
A week ago, civic groups held a joint news conference to protest against the trilateral arrangement in front of the defense ministry.
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