S.Korea to share military intel via US

By AFP – Reuters Source:AFP - Reuters Published: 2019/8/23 21:13:40

South Korea said Friday it will share military intelligence with Japan through the United States after terminating a pact that enabled the two US allies to exchange such information directly.

Seoul's decision on Thursday to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement was the latest in a series of tit-for-tat measures that have brought relations between South Korea and Japan to their lowest point in years. 

South Korea will now "actively utilize the trilateral information-sharing channel with the United States as the intermediary" in place of the accord, said Kim Hyun-chong, a national security official at the presidential Blue House.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday that Japan still expects South Korea to keep its promises on the contentious issue of wartime forced labor and to work to rebuild trust.

Relations between the East Asian neighbors began to deteriorate last year following a South Korean court order for Japanese companies to compensate some of their wartime forced laborers. Japan condemned the ruling, saying the matter was resolved by a 1965 treaty normalizing ties.



Posted in: ASIA-PACIFIC

blog comments powered by Disqus