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US steps up pressure to restore GSOMIA

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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell arrives at Narita International Airport, outside of Tokyo, on July 11. AP-Yonhap
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell arrives at Narita International Airport, outside of Tokyo, on July 11. AP-Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

With less than a month left of the Seoul-Tokyo military information-sharing pact known as GSOMIA, the United States is stepping up pressure on its two allies to restore the pact.

The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) between South Korea and Japan is set to expire Nov. 22, following the South Korean government's decision in late August not to renew it for another year as tensions with Japan over history and trade issues grow.

"We strongly encourage both sides to find creative solutions to this," David Stilwell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told reporters in Tokyo, Saturday. "We do of course encourage the Korean side to return to this agreement because it benefits us, benefits you and it certainly benefits them as well."

Stilwell was visiting Japan to attend a policy forum from Saturday to Sunday. He is set to visit South Korea on Nov. 5, as part of his trip to Asian countries including Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand and China.

Then, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley plans to visit South Korea and Japan in mid-November, according to Japan's Kyodo News, Saturday. The South Korean JCS has already announced that Milley will visit Seoul on Nov. 14 to hold the 44th Military Committee Meeting (MCM) with JCS Chairman Gen. Park Han-ki.

After holding the MCM with Park, Milley then will head to Tokyo to meet Japanese JCS chief Gen. Koji Yamazaki, Kyodo said.

Milley has been making efforts to build a bridge between the South Korean and Japanese militaries through such trilateral meeting among JCS chiefs. Milley, Park and their Japanese counterpart Gen. Koji Yamazaki met on Oct. 1 ― a day after Milley's appointment to the position ― to discuss trilateral security cooperation.

The U.S. has been voicing concerns about the trilateral alliance among the three countries, citing the potential negative impact of ending GSOMIA.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets senior military leaders at the White House in Washington, D.C., Oct. 7. On his left is U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and right, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark Milley. Reuters-Yonhap
U.S. President Donald Trump meets senior military leaders at the White House in Washington, D.C., Oct. 7. On his left is U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and right, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark Milley. Reuters-Yonhap

Stilwell had highlighted the importance of the Seoul-Tokyo military pact to counter military threats from North Korea, citing the North's submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test early this month.

North Korea's SLBM test alarmed countries in the region. Japanese politicians, in particular, voiced concerns about the negative impact of ending GSOMIA following Japanese authorities failing in initial reports to provide the exact number of missiles launched in the test.

Japan has corrected the number from two to one, while South Korea's JCS said there was only one missile. Experts citied South Korea's proximity to the North as its advantage over Japan in detecting details of a launch early.

Speaking about the Seoul-Tokyo trade conflict following Japan's decision in early August to remove South Korea from the list of countries receiving special treatment, Stilwell said economic issues should not be allowed to spill into the field of security.

But military tension between South Korea and Japan had already been worsening due to other issues, including a feud over Japan's claim that a South Korean warship locked its fire control radar on a Japanese maritime patrol aircraft last December, as well as a decades-long conflict over South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo and Japan's claiming sovereignty.

Citing the radar feud, Japan did not invite South Korea for a multinational review in Sagami Bay near Tokyo in mid-October. Seoul's Ministry of National Defense denied the claim when it summoned a Japanese defense attache in late September to protest Japan's annual defense paper, which included the territorial claim over Dokdo.

Japan's defense ministry also summoned a South Korean defense attache on Oct. 1 when South Korea's F-15K fighter jets conducted a patrol over Dokdo as part of Korea's Armed Forces Day.



Jung Da-min damin.jung@koreatimes.co.kr


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