Extension of Japan-South Korea pact discussed 'in principle'

SEOUL • The defence chiefs of South Korea and Japan discussed a potential extension of their bilateral military intelligence-sharing pact at a meeting in Bangkok, but only at an "in principle" level, Yonhap reported.

"We talked about it only at a theoretical level," South Korean Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo was quoted by South Korea's Yonhap news agency as saying on the sidelines of a meeting of regional defence ministers.

Mr Jeong said South Korea changed its earlier decision to extend the General Security of Military Information Agreement beyond its planned expiry on Nov 23 after Tokyo placed export curbs on Seoul, which was seen as damaging bilateral trust.

Mr Jeong and Japanese defence chief Taro Kono later met their American counterpart, Dr Mark Esper, who is travelling to the region with the aim of keeping the country's key Asian allies - South Korea and Japan - together amid continued threats from North Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Dr Esper last Friday that sharing military intelligence with Japan is difficult, given that Japan has imposed export curbs on South Korea "for security reasons", according to Mr Moon's spokesman.

BLOOMBERG

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 18, 2019, with the headline Extension of Japan-South Korea pact discussed 'in principle'. Subscribe