WORLD NEWS | South Korea begins normalization of military intelligence sharing agreement with Japan

Seoul [South Korea]March 19 (ANI): South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense has started the process of normalizing the Military Intelligence General Security Agreement, a military intelligence sharing agreement, after Seoul President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reached a joint agreement, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The defense ministry said it had written to the country’s foreign ministry requesting steps to normalize the GSOMIA agreement.

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The foreign ministry is expected to send a formal letter to Japan’s foreign ministry shortly in response, officials said.

Meanwhile, Japan’s defense ministry on Friday welcomed the steady implementation of the deal, the Japan Times reported, but the exact measures Seoul is seeking were unclear.

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According to CNN, the deal came after the leaders of Japan and South Korea met and pledged to rekindle ties at the Tokyo Hedgerow Summit.

“From now on, I hope to open a new chapter in Japan-South Korea relations through frequent visits by both sides without sticking to formalities,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in Tokyo after meeting South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday.

The leaders of South Korea and Japan have not seen each other for 12 years amid tensions over wartime labor disputes and other issues.

Hours before the visit, North Korea launched its fourth intercontinental ballistic missile, a long-range ballistic missile, into the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula in less than a year, according to a CNN report missile. The launch was a stark reminder of the shared security challenges facing both countries.

In a joint statement on Thursday, Kishida said Japan and South Korea had decided to resume bilateral security talks in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. They also reaffirmed the importance of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and their commitment to working together to defend the rules-based global order.

Yin also announced support for a “fully normalized” military intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan.

“I believe the two countries should be able to share information on North Korea’s nuclear missile launches and trajectories and respond,” Yoon said.

A long-running dispute over Japan’s use of forced labor during its colonization of South Korea led South Korea to cancel a military intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan in 2019, sending relations between the two countries to their lowest point in decades. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)