Tomorrow GSOMIA expired Government Determined the South Korean response to the end

Tomorrow GSOMIA expired Government to determine the Korean side to the end November 22 5:08

Japan-Korea Comprehensive Military Information Protection Agreement = GSOMIA expires at midnight on the 23rd, and the Japanese government is urging Korea to review its decision to abolish it through discussions between underwater diplomatic authorities. The policy is to determine whether the side will show any change in response such as postponement of decision or freezing.

While the two countries' military information comprehensive protection agreement = GSOMIA expires at midnight on the 23rd, the Korean government held a NSC = National Security Conference on the 21st to discuss the response. It seems that no conclusion was reached.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa said, “We are seeking a change in the attitude of Japan until the end,” and showed the traditional position that Japan should review the strengthening of export controls to Korea.

On the other hand, Secretary of the Secretariat said, “A review of export control is a review of necessary operations in accordance with international rules in order to properly manage trade in cargo and technology that may be diverted to military use.”

The government has repeatedly urged the South Korean side to review its decision to abandon it, while exploring possible solutions through discussions with foreign diplomatic authorities to avoid the expiration of the agreement.

With regard to GSOMIA, the United States, which places importance on the security cooperation between the three countries of Japan, the United States, and South Korea, is also urging Korea to maintain the agreement. It is a policy to determine whether or not to show the change of.

About GSOMIA

“GSOMIA” = Military Information Comprehensive Protection Agreement stipulates a mechanism for appropriately protecting information so that highly confidential military information can be exchanged between the two countries, such as movement toward the launch of ballistic missiles. .

In order to protect the information that should be kept secret, it includes limiting the number of people who can handle the information and not providing it to third countries without permission.

The GSOMIA concluded between Japan and South Korea is automatically extended every year unless either Japan or Korea notifies the cancellation, but if it is to be canceled, it will be notified through the diplomatic route 90 days ago. August 24th is the deadline every year.

Korea decided to abandon it on August 22, two days before the deadline, and notified Japan the next day. The three countries of Japan, the United States, and South Korea were able to share military information because they had signed this agreement with each other. There is also a concern that “smooth information sharing between Japan and Korea will be impossible”.

On the other hand, among the three countries, apart from GSOMIA, there is a memorandum called “TISA” that exchanges information via the United States only for information such as ballistic missiles and nuclear tests by North Korea. Based on this memorandum, information will be shared.

The government says that even if GSOMIA is abandoned, Japan is taking a thorough posture by collecting information unique to Japan and cooperating with the United States. It is pointed out that the disorder of Korea ’s footsteps will benefit not only North Korea but also China and Russia.

Conclusion with countries other than Korea

Japan has signed a military information comprehensive protection agreement = GSOMIA with countries other than Korea.

The countries in which Japan has signed GSOMIA are the United States (August 2007) and India (December 2015).

Apart from GSOMIA, an agreement to share and protect a wide range of information related to security including not only military but also terrorism, which is called Information Protection Agreement = GSOIA, was established in four countries: France, Australia, the United Kingdom and Italy. In addition, NATO is signed with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

After the decision to discard GSOMIA

Over the military information comprehensive protection agreement signed with South Korea three years ago = "GSOMIA", South Korea has been due to an automatic renewal due to the fact that Japan has excluded South Korea from the preferential export control countries. Two days ago, we decided to cancel on August 22.

In response to this, the Japanese government protested, “It is extremely regrettable that the local security environment was completely misunderstood,” and the US state Secretary of State Pompeio stated that he was disappointed with the decision of the Korean government. , Criticized in an unusually strong tone for possible adverse effects on local security.

Under these circumstances, North Korea repeatedly launched ballistic missiles four times after South Korea decided to abandon, and on October 2nd, it launched a SLBM = submarine-launched ballistic missile.

The two governments say that the agreement is valid until late November, and when the SLBM was launched, South Korean defense minister Chung Kyung-Doo requested Japan to share military information based on GSOMIA. , Both governments say they are “working properly”.

Under such circumstances, Defense Minister Kono said, “If it is destroyed, there will be no immediate impact on Japan's security. It was a demerit at this time when US-Korea cooperation was necessary. "

Before GSOMIA ceased to be effective, the Korean government indicated that it would reconsider the termination decision if the Japanese government withdrew its decision to exclude South Korea from export control preferential countries. He stressed that reviewing Japan's export controls is a necessary review in order to properly implement the system, and stated that “the decision to end the agreement is a completely different issue”.

In the middle of this month, ministers from the three countries met one after another, including a defense ministers meeting between the three countries at the international conference held in Thailand.

In this, the US Secretary of Defense, Esper, said, “It is necessary to reinstate GSOMIA” and reiterated the idea that South Korea should review its decision to abandon GSOMIA. There was no noticeable change.