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Tokyo refuses Seoul's help over North Korea firing

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Japan did not ask South Korea to share information on two unidentified projectiles launched by North Korea Sept. 10. The North has said the launch was a
Japan did not ask South Korea to share information on two unidentified projectiles launched by North Korea Sept. 10. The North has said the launch was a "test-fire of a newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher."/ Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

Japan did not ask South Korea for intelligence on North Korea's recent launch of two "unidentified projectiles" after Seoul ended its military information sharing pact with Tokyo.

Political analysts in Seoul said Sunday the key motivation behind the silence was because it did not want to be viewed as seeking help to acquire classified information after the termination of the pact, commonly known as GSOMIA, Aug. 22.

However Tokyo seems fully capable of monitoring North Korea's military activities in cooperation with the United States and does not need to work with South Korea, they added.

Seoul's Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) have yet to finalize their assessment of the projectiles' maximum altitude and speed ― two key pieces of information when analyzing the specifications of North Korean missiles or projectiles.

"I think Japan is curious to know about North Korean projectiles last week but does not want to appear to be begging for help from the South," Shin In-kyun, president of the Korea Defense Network said. "This is why Japan has not asked for related information on the projectiles. It is as simple as that."

Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), claimed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe does not want to be seen as being cooperative with Seoul.

Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University, said the General Security of Military Information Agreement was merely for "cross-checking purposes and is not 100 percent necessary."

Signed in 2016, GSOMIA had been due for automatic renewal. The arrangement enables Japan and South Korea to share information on North Korea's missile and nuclear programs.

He stressed GSOMIA was signed in 2016 as part of U.S. efforts to enhance the security alliance between Seoul and Tokyo, whose cooperation can help better consolidate a trilateral alliance against the North's and China's military threats.

However, he argued the main purpose of GSOMIA was to cross-check and ensure that information obtained by the U.S. and Japan on North Korea's military activities was correct. "Japan does not have much to lose without GSOMIA in the latest launch of the North's projectiles," Park added.

The MND and JCS have said they are working with the U.S. to analyze the specifics of the two North Korean projectiles.

Each was a short-range projectile, fired at 6:53 a.m. and 7:12 p.m. from South Pyongan Province in the west of the country to the eastward. They traveled about 330 kilometers at an estimated maximum altitude of 50 to 60 kilometers.

"Though the dispute is clearly based on specific historical grievances between Japan and South Korea, it would be a misstep for the United States to evade the dispute altogether and leave the two nations to sort things out on their own.

In fact, it is a grave error to dismiss Washington's potential role in mediating as a form of babysitting, as doing so would be overlooking the significant role Washington had in brokering the initial agreement between Seoul and Tokyo," Harry J. Kazianis, a senior director of Korean studies at the Center for the National Interest, said.



Yi Whan-woo yistory@koreatimes.co.kr


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