South Korea’s Intel Exit Exposes Hole in U.S. Security Net

(Bloomberg) --

Japan and South Korea vowed to maintain defense cooperation with the U.S. even as fresh sniping between the neighbors showed serious cracks in Washington’s regional security framework.

Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe said he was committed to coordinating with the U.S. on security matters after South Korea’s decision to withdraw from a 2016 intelligence-sharing pact made it harder to work together. In Seoul, a top security adviser to President Moon Jae-in defended the decision and argued that increases in local defense spending would strengthen the country’s alliance with the U.S.

Still, the adviser, Kim Hyun-chong, said there was “almost no chance” of South Korea rescinding its withdrawal from the pact. The government delivered a formal 90-day termination notice to the Japanese embassy in Seoul on Friday afternoon.

The collapse of the agreement less than three years after its signing raised doubts about U.S. efforts to offset China’s military rise by strengthening its network of Asian security partners. The decision followed months of diplomatic barbs and trade measures that unfolded as the Trump administration sat largely on the sidelines, squeezing both allies for trade concessions and more defense spending.

The U.S. Defense Department on Thursday expressed “strong concern and disappointment” with South Korea’s decision. Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya called the move “disappointing and highly regrettable” and an “action that completely misunderstands the current regional security environment.”

Japan and South Korea share several common security concerns with the U.S., including China’s growing military reach and North Korea’s expanding nuclear arsenal. Kim Jong Un’s regime has recently resumed ballistic missile launches into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, while China has stepped up military patrols on their shared frontiers.

Earlier Friday, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that a local lawmakers’ group devoted to cooperation with South Korea was considering postponing a meeting next month with its South Korean counterparts.

Euan Graham, executive director of La Trobe Asia at La Trobe University in Melbourne, said the rift “drives a wedge in the U.S. alliance system to the benefit of North Korea and China.”

“If Japan and Korea are pulling apart, it is not all the U.S.’s fault, but it says something about the weakness of U.S. leadership,” Graham said.

The U.S.’s global security network requires the constant management of national rivals, sometimes rooted in past wars and atrocities. Tensions between Tokyo and Seoul flared last year after South Korean courts moved to confiscate Japanese corporate assets to compensate Koreans forced to labor during Japan’s 1910-45 occupation.

Japan says all such claims were settled under a 1965 treaty. In recent months, Abe’s government has announced tighter checks on exports to South Korea -- citing national security concerns -- while Seoul has moved in return to strip Japan from a list of trusted export destinations.

Last-Minute Push

The two sides went ahead with the actions despite a last-minute push by U.S. officials, including a three-way meeting between Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and his Japanese and South Korea counterparts on the sidelines of a regional conference.

Japanese Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko said Friday that South Korea’s withdrawal wouldn’t change his ministry’s plans to remove the country from its “white list” of export destinations. Abe told reporters before departing for Group of Seven meetings in France there was “no change to our basic stance that we first want South Korea to repair our relationship of trust and keep its promises.”

The General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, was signed by Japan and South Korea in November 2016. While the agreement doesn’t require the exchange of intelligence and both countries are part of a similar three-way pact with the U.S., the deal was significant because it demonstrated their ability to cooperate independently from Washington.

Kim Hyun-chong, the South Korean national security official, said that South Korea would work with American side to enhance its defense capabilities through budget increases and the acquisition of strategic assets including military satellites.

“The U.S. had asked us to consider extending GSOMIA, so we understand why they must be disappointed,” he said.

--With assistance from Shinhye Kang.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.net;Sophie Jackman in Tokyo at sjackman5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Kana Nishizawa

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.