Intelligence Sharing

5 MW_e experimental reactor at Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center/

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Tokyo, Washington, Seoul agree to share intelligence on North Korea

AFP-JIJI

DEC 26, 2014

SEOUL – The United States, Japan and South Korea have agreed to form a rare trilateral military arrangement to share intelligence about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, officials said Friday.

South Korea’s defense ministry said the deal will be signed on Monday. It comes at a time of heightened concern about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, which are seen as a major security concern in the Pacific region and beyond.

But in a sign of the long-held distrust between Seoul and Tokyo, South Korea will not pass military information directly to Japan, and will instead use the U.S. as an intermediary.

The nuclear-armed North has threatened the U.S. and South Korea with nuclear strikes, most recently over a U.N. resolution on its human rights abuses. It has also lashed out over a Sony Pictures comedy mocking Pyongyang and its leader.

“This will be effective in deterring provocations from North Korea, and we hope it will help the three nations respond swiftly to the North’s nuclear and missile threats,” said a South Korean defense ministry spokesman.

The scope of information to be shared between the three countries will be confined to intelligence on threats related to North Korea, reflecting negative public sentiment in South Korea toward greater cooperation with Japan.

As a result, South Korea will not share military information directly with Japan, but will pass it on through the U.S.

The United States, which maintains separate bilateral military accords with both South Korea and Japan, has pushed for better defense cooperation between its allies in the face of China’s growing influence in the region.

But negotiations on forging a bilateral military deal between Seoul and Tokyo fell apart two years ago when a territorial row intensified over disputed islands in the Sea of Japan.

Relations between the two are at their lowest ebb in years due to that and disputes linked to Japan’s brutal 1910-45 rule over the Korean peninsula.

South Korea and China, also mired in territorial disputes with Japan, view a contentious change in Japan’s pacifist stance with suspicion.

Moreover, Seoul, which seeks to expand strategic ties with Beijing, has also been reluctant to join a U.S.-led missile defense system intended to keep China in check.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/26/national/politics-diplomacy/tokyo-washington-seoul-agree-to-share-intelligence-on-north-korea/#.VJ4Fq14gIg