18.03.2023
In order to deal with North Korea’s nuclear bomb threat, Japan and South Korea, two countries with many historical problems, now hope to put aside the past and jointly promote military cooperation. For this reason, South Korea even did not hesitate to “pay out of its own pocket” to solve the problem.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese Network) South Korea will fully implement a key military intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan, a South Korean defense ministry official told AFP on Saturday, as the two countries try to unfreeze long-frozen ties and reopen diplomacy campaign against Pyongyang.
At a summit on Thursday to repair ties between the two countries’ militaries, the two neighbors agreed to let go of Japan’s wartime forced drafting of South Korean labor.
In response to this problem, the South Korean side stated in early March that the country would encourage domestic companies to “pay out of their own pockets” to solve the problem of Japanese forced labor compensation. According to reports from Chinese state media, including China News, Yoon’s trip to Japan sparked strong opposition in South Korea. Korean media commented that amid criticisms of “humiliating diplomacy”, it is unclear whether the visit will achieve results.
First summit in 12 years
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yue, who has been hoping to end the dispute and form a united front against nuclear-armed North Korea, has flown to Japan to meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the first such summit between the two countries in 12 years.
Yoon told Kishida that he wanted to “fully normalize” the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) signed between the two countries in 2016, according to a joint report. The agreement enables the two U.S. allies to share military secrets, especially information about Pyongyang’s nuclear strike capabilities.
After the summit, Japan asked South Korea’s foreign ministry to “start taking necessary measures to normalize the implementation of the agreement,” a South Korean defense ministry official said on condition of anonymity. South Korea’s foreign ministry is expected to send a formal letter to its Japanese counterpart soon, the official added.
Seoul had threatened to abolish GSOMIA in 2019 as relations with Tokyo soured over trade disputes and historical disputes over Japan’s 35-year colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. The United States was alarmed by this and said that canceling the agreement would only benefit North Korea and China.
Hours before the treaty expired, South Korea agreed to extend GSOMIA “conditionally” but warned it could be “terminated” at any time.
North Korea launches rocket at unknown location on March 10, 2023
In the face of Pyongyang’s growing aggression and a string of missile tests, the neighbors are increasingly seeking to make peace with each other.
Just before Yoon arrived in Tokyo on Thursday, North Korea test-fired what it said was an intercontinental ballistic missile, underscoring a growing security challenge.
Last year, Pyongyang declared that it had “irreversibly” become a nuclear state, and most recently leader Kim Jong Un called for an “exponential” increase in weapons production.
(AFP, China News Agency, etc.)
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