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| Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon participates in a ministerial meeting on Japan's trade regulations at the Sejong Government Complex, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Park Ji-won
After Seoul announced its intent to cancel its bilateral military information-sharing pact, commonly known as GSOMIA, with Tokyo, a resolution to the diplomatic and trade conflict seems further away than ever before. The decision, which comes after Japan's decision to remove South Korea from its list of trusted trade partners, appears to be part of a "tit-for-tat" power game between senior presidential aides.
Sources inside Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) told The Korea Times while the defense and foreign ministers and the prime minister had hoped to renew the agreement given the diplomatic and security costs associated with Seoul's termination of the GSOMIA, the National Security Office deputy national security adviser Kim Hyun-chong downplayed the security implications of the move.
"It was NSC deputy Kim Hyun-chong who raised the necessity of the termination of GSOMIA. Mentioning the Trilateral Information-Sharing Arrangement (TISA) among the United States, Japan and South Korea, Kim persuaded President Moon and NSO chief Chung Eui-yong to take a hardline response to Japan. His request was accepted," a Cheong Wa Dae official said.
Before the South Korean decision, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon had sought a diplomatic resolution by phoning Japanese politician Fukushiro Nukaga, chair of the Japan-South Korea parliamentarians' league, asking him to lift the delisting as there had been a possibility of the GSOMIA renewal as he had discussed with President Moon. Prime Minister Lee, who has a strong background in terms of connections and knowledge in Japanese affairs, was said to have approached Japanese politicians in hope of resolving history-oriented issues between the two countries by extending the GSOMIA as a "political maneuver."
Although presidential aide Kim referred to TISA as an alternative, under TISA parties only negotiate intelligence-sharing on a "case-by-case" basis, and delays can prove costly in a crisis situation.
"As NSO deputy Kim is the country's most seasoned specialist in trade, the presidential aide prefers to deal with even political- and security-related issues from a trade perspective, meaning he and his team probably have more power to negotiate meaningful agreements than others," another source said.
Kim was the chief negotiator for the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
A few days after Seoul announced its intent to officially end the GSOMIA, PM Lee told Japanese lawmakers that Seoul would reconsider its termination if Japan lifts its trade retaliation before the agreement's expiration in November this year. The move gained media attention as it was the first such remark from a senior government official in the bilateral conflict.
However, the Prime Minister's Office instantly refuted those reports, saying while it is true the PM had phone conversations with Japanese lawmakers, reversing the GSOMIA decision wasn't the main issue that had been touched on.
"There still is the possibility that Lee may have phoned Japanese lawmakers, as he has a personal relationship with politicians of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in a diplomatic move behind the scenes. And there are also possibilities that he conveyed Moon's message to Tokyo in an unofficial way. However, some were raising possibilities that the PM apparently denied the reports after being pressured by another person from Cheong Wa Dae to follow the presidential office rather than acting alone, given the fact that there is a power game going on inside the presidential office," another source said.
"Rumors mount that key presidential aides such as PM Lee and NSO chief Chung, who have their specialties in security and diplomacy, have been put aside while new aides such as Kim and chief of staff Noh Young-min, who have their expertise in trade, were gaining power," another source familiar with the matter said. He claimed the "main reason" behind the differences between aides is largely because of the difficulties created by the U.S.' strong objection of GSOMIA termination, which many hadn't seen coming.
NSO deputy Kim said in a recent press briefing that there is almost no chance of the administration revisiting the decision.
