Todd Bishop
The Japanese and South Korean defense chiefs held talks in Thailand on November 17, but the Yonhap News Agency reported that the two countries failed to narrow their differences on the “Japan-Korea Military Intelligence Protection Agreement” (GSOMIA). GSOMIA will expire on November 23.
The report said that South Korean Defense Minister Zheng Jingdou and Japanese Defense Minister Kono Taro held talks at a hotel in Bangkok that day, which was the first Korean-Japanese defense talks after South Korea decided to terminate the agreement.
After the talks, Zheng Jingdou told reporters that the two sides exchanged views on the principled position on the issue of military agreement. He called on the Japanese side to work hard to solve the problem through diplomatic channels. He also said that the Japanese side reiterated its wish to renew the military agreement. He responded that the Korean side had maintained the position of the agreement until June, only because Japan restricted the export to South Korea and the national security mutual trust was damaged. The South Korean side had to decide to terminate. agreement.
Yonhap said that if the two sides cannot reach a compromise at the high-level talks held within these five days, the military agreement will inevitably end.
