S. Korea approves military pact with Japan despite backlash

The military intelligence information sharing agreement between South Korea and Japan was approved by President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday, sparking complaints from the opposition who called it a rushed and unilateral decision by the Park administration.

Seoul and Tokyo will sign the General Security of Military Information Agreement on 10 a.m. Wednesday, with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine acting as representatives. 

The two countries had commenced talks for the GSOMIA on Oct. 27, citing elevated nuclear and ballistic missile threats from North Korea. They held three working-level meetings in less than a month, and the deal was approved at a vice-ministerial meeting Thursday.

In 2012, when Seoul and Tokyo first began talks about the agreement, there had also been backlash from opposition and civic groups here.

While the military has emphasized that the agreement would allow Seoul to utilize Japan’s intelligence assets, there has been controversy about its ramifications on power dynamics in the region.

Rep. Kim Jong-dae, the floor spokesman for the minor Justice Party, has said that the GSOMIA would result in South Korea being incorporated into the US-led missile defense system, which consists of Japan. He suspected that it was also related to the upcoming deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system here.

“The August deployment of THAAD has led to the South Korea-Japan GSOMIA, which will allow us to share the data collected from the THAAD radars,” said Kim, formerly a chief editor of defense journal Defense Plus.

“This is expected to bring severe changes in international relations along with our defense and overall national strategy, which makes it subject to parliamentary ratification under the Constitution. Yet the Defense Ministry has continued to deny the possibility and offered no palpable explanation to the people questioning (the deal).”

He said that while the opposition members of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee have called for a meeting on the GSOMIA, Committee Chairman Kim Young-woo -- a member of the ruling Saenuri Party -- turned down the request.

Rep. Ki Dong-min, floor spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, said the Park administration has no right to push forward with the deal, as people have lost faith in it. A survey last week by Gallup Korea put Park’s approval rating at 5 percent.

Ki also stressed that a majority of people are against the military deal. Another Gallup Korea poll showed that 58 percent were against the GSOMIA.

Local civic groups and university students held an overnight protest in front of the government complex in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, demanding the administration scrap the plan.

Lawyers for a Democratic Society, or Minbyun, accused the Defense Ministry of secrecy and demanded that it reveal the negotiation process.

“The ministry vowed to be transparent in talks on the South Korea-Japan GSOMIA. But unlike its words, the ministry focused purely on speedily conducting the negotiations and showed no efforts to get the public’s consent or overall opinion,” it said in a statement.

Defense Ministry Spokesman Moon Sang-kyun reiterated the ministry’s stance that it would “continue to persuade those who oppose the deal.” But Minister Han has declined to comment on whether the deal can be scrapped if the public continues to reject it.

Some conservative pundits claimed the opposition bloc has been politicizing what should be a purely defensive issue.

Park Hwee-rhak, the dean of the graduate school of politics and leadership at Kookmin University, said in a public debate Tuesday that “even an elementary school student would immediately agree” with the necessity of the GSOMIA.

“The North Korean spies within our society and the pro-North controlled or effected by them may oppose the deal, since they might feel that a pact with Japan would strengthen South Korea’s defense (against Pyongyang),” he said.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)