Seoul, Tokyo Discuss Possible Extension of Military Pact: Yonhap

(Bloomberg) -- The defense 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 Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo was quoted by Yonhap as saying. He was speaking to reporters in Bangkok on the sidelines of a meeting of regional defense ministers.

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 Japan placed exports curbs on Seoul, which was seen as damaging bilateral trust, the news agency said.

Jeong and Japanese Defense chief Taro Kono will meet their American counterpart Mark Esper later on Sunday in Bangkok. Esper is traveling to the region with the aim of keeping the U.S.’s key Asian allies -- South Korea and Japan -- together amid continued threats from North Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Esper on Friday that sharing military intelligence with Japan is difficult given that Japan, imposing the export curbs, said it can’t trust us for security, according to Moon’s spokeswoman.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kanga Kong in Seoul at kkong50@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Nicholas Reynolds

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