{"id":40130,"date":"2019-08-27T17:55:22","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T17:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/27\/south-korea-is-playing-into-the-hands-of-north-korea-and-its-allies\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:16:33","slug":"south-korea-is-playing-into-the-hands-of-north-korea-and-its-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2019\/08\/27\/south-korea-is-playing-into-the-hands-of-north-korea-and-its-allies\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea is playing into the hands of North Korea and its allies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Korea announced<\/a> Thursday it will not renew its bilateral military information-sharing pact with Japan, known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA. Amid ongoing South Korea-Japan trade disputes and North Korea\u2019s latest wave of short-range missile tests, this decision heightens<\/a> regional tensions, undermining not only South Korea\u2019s national security interests but also America\u2019s and Japan\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Korea and Japan signed the GSOMIA in November 2016 to provide both countries with a direct line of communication for the exchange of classified military information regarding both North Korea\u2019s ballistic missile launches and conventional military operations. South Korea\u2019s satellite intelligence, after all, is limited to domains south of the military demarcation line. By contrast, Japan\u2019s Self-Defense Forces have several intelligence satellites monitoring North Korean activity north of the military demarcation line. The GSOMIA thus fills intelligence gaps that both countries have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GSOMIA builds upon a December 2014 trilateral information-sharing agreement<\/a> among South Korea, Japan and the U.S. aimed at enhancing the transparency of intelligence regarding North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile threats. Yet this agreement was limited only to information sharing with regard to North Korean nuclear weapons and missiles while ignoring intelligence on conventional military threats. Additionally, the agreement stipulated that South Korea and Japan could only exchange intelligence by using the U.S. as an intermediary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Washington and Seoul have repeatedly hailed the GSOMIA\u2019s importance. As recently as this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and South Korea President Moon Jae-in not only reaffirmed<\/a> the GSOMIA\u2019s value, but stressed the need to resolve any concerns about it amicably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intelligence sharing, said Esper<\/a>, \u201cis key to us in our common defense against North Korea.\u201d Despite this, Moon\u2019s deputy national security adviser, Kim Hyun-chong<\/a>, insisted Seoul\u2019s termination of GSOMIA was a legitimate \u201cproduct of extensive deliberations and taken in accordance with national interest.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t