Seoul, Tokyo sign disputed military intelligence-sharing pact

Photo journalists refuse to take photos of Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Yasumasa Nagamine entering the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, Wednesday, as part of their boycott of covering the signing of the General Security of Military Information Agreement between Seoul and Tokyo. The photographers protested the ministry’s decision not to make public the scene of the signing. / Joint press corps

By Yi Whan-woo

South Korea and Japan formally signed the controversial agreement on sharing military intelligence on North Korea, Wednesday, despite strong objections here.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo and Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine inked the deal on the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul. The bilateral pact took effect immediately.

The GSOMIA will enable the two neighbors to share military secrets directly that are classified second degree or less, without going through the United States. The classified information includes North Korea’s evolving nuclear and ballistic missile activities, which Seoul had limited capacity to monitor fully.

Japan has accumulated “a wide range of” intelligence on North Korea using its reconnaissance assets, according to military sources.

These include five reconnaissance satellites, six Aegis destroyers equipped with radar systems, four land-based radars with a range of over 1,000 kilometers, 17 early warning aircraft and 77 maritime patrol aircraft.

South Korea will offer North Korea-related secrets it has gathered from sources such as defectors and agents on the North Korea-China border and from monitoring in the Demilitarized Zone.

“It is expected that the quality of our intelligence and surveillance capability on North Korea will improve significantly because we’ll be able to obtain intelligence from Japan in addition to the U.S.,” a defense ministry official said.

In Japan, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the GSOMIA is meaningful, adding that “North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missiles are posing a higher level of threat and that the importance of security cooperation between South Korea and Japan has increased.”

The pact does not allow the two countries to pass information obtained from the other to a third party without permission. “All intelligence sharing will be made under the principle of reciprocity,” the ministry spokesman said.

After a four-year hiatus, the two sides resumed the controversial talks on Nov. 1 and it took less than a month to conclude the deal, drawing a strong backlash from opposition parties and civic groups.

They are accusing President Park Geun-hye and her government of unilaterally striking the deal without considering public sentiment against Japan’s unrepentant view toward its atrocities before and during World War II.

The legislators were also critical of the deal because the Park administration pushed for it despite growing calls for the President to step aside from all state affairs due to her alleged involvement in the corruption scandal surrounding her friend Choi Soon-sil.

Citing the sensitivity of the issue, the defense ministry did not open the signing of the pact between Han and Nagamine to the media and decided to release related photos taken by defense ministry officials.

In response, photo journalists staged a protest, putting their cameras on the floor when the Japanese ambassador entered the ministry.

The government’s move angered the photo journalists because it only gave notice just before the signing.

The defense ministry admitted it failed to take public consensus into account concerning GSOMIA.

The opposition parties plan to submit a joint motion on Nov. 30 demanding the President sack Han over the disputed agreement.