'Japan doesn't trust South Korea'

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks at a news conference at his official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 11. Reuters-Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

South Korea's decision to end a bilateral military information-sharing pact was largely because of Tokyo's deep distrust of Seoul, according to an adviser for foreign and unification affairs to President Moon Jae-in.

"The South Korean government believes the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) can't be effective if Japan doesn't trust us. If Japan doesn't trust us, how can we exchange sensitive military intelligence with them?" presidential adviser Moon Chung-in said in a recent interview with China's state-owned publication The Global Times.

The GSOMIA allowed for more "seamless intelligence-sharing" among Washington's top two allies in Asia regarding North Korean activities in the region.

Once terminated, the agreement will be tough to reconstitute given domestic political obstacles in the past, particularly in South Korea.

The adviser to Moon said the South Korean decision jeopardizes the trilateral alliance between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul. "We call the GSOMIA a trilateral security cooperation and coordination agreement as South Korea doesn't have any military alliance with Japan," Moon said.

But Washington's reluctance to step in and mediate in the ongoing bilateral dispute which largely stem from Japan's decision to impose export controls in industrial materials crucial to South Korea's manufacturing industry is exacerbating the dispute, according to Moon Chung-in.

"For example, in 2015, when there was a conflict between Seoul and Tokyo over the wartime sex slavery issue, then the U.S. administration intervened and narrowed differences so the two countries could reach an agreement on the issue. But the Trump administration didn't intervene. Maybe that is one reason why the bilateral conflict became deeper," he said.

But the adviser stressed the effects of Seoul's ending of GSOMIA will be short-lived and limited as South Korea is able to use a trilateral information-sharing agreement (TISA) pact as an alternate option to share military information with the United States and Japan.

"South Korea thinks the Seoul-Washington alliance is healthy. We have a mechanism to exchange information with Japan through mediation from Washington," he said.

But the adviser asked the United States to adjust South Korea's defense cost-sharing burden. "Last year, we agreed to pay $1 billion for U.S. forces. Now, the United States is demanding that we pay about $5 billion to $6 billion. That's too much. That will lead to disputes between the United States and South Korea."

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