Defense chiefs to hold talks in Seoul next week

Defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan will meet in Seoul next week for talks on a proposed agreement on protection of military secrets and bilateral cooperation on military supplies, Seoul officials said.

During their talks next Monday, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Japanese counterpart Toshimi Kitazawa are also expected to exchange views on regional security issues such as North Korea’s nuclear program and shelling on Yeonpyeong Island.

“The Japanese defense minister will visit Korea next week to discuss ways to improve military relations between the two countries,” a senior Defense Ministry official here said.

“There will be talks about agreements on protection of military secrets and on sharing military supplies and services, which Korea and Japan aim to sign within this year.”

The so-called General Security of Military Information Agreement and the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement are likely to accelerate military cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo.

Korea has signed pacts or memoranda of understanding with 21 countries including the U.S. on protection of bilaterally shared military secrets. Japan and the U.S. have a similar deal as well.

The GSOMIA would allow Korea and Japan to systematically exchange intelligence on North Korea’s nuclear program as well as weapons of mass destruction.

“It would open a new prospect for the development of military ties between the two countries,” the official said.

The ACSA would stipulate obligations on sharing military supplies and services such as food, fuel and transportation between Korea and Japan.

It would also include sharing supplies between Korean and Japanese troops dispatched overseas for peacekeeping operations.

Korea has signed ACSAs with eight countries ― the U.S., Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, the Philippines, Israel, Canada ― and is in talks with about 10 more countries to conclude the deals.

On his visit to Seoul after North Korea’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong on Nov. 23, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, proposed joint military drills among South Korea, Japan and the U.S. to increase deterrence against the North.

South Korean officials, however, are reluctant to discuss a trilateral military exercise as it would run against Japan’s pacifist constitution that strictly prohibits the use of force as a means of settling international disputes. Hard feelings against Japan remain in Korea due to historical and territorial disputes stemming from Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of Korea.

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denied a Japanese news report that Seoul and Tokyo were considering a joint declaration on stronger bilateral ties including military cooperation.

Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun said Tuesday that the two countries were planning to issue in spring a joint declaration about closer security ties including peacetime military cooperation.

Yomiuri said the two sides were aiming to sign the joint declaration during President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to Japan in the first half of this year.

A Foreign Ministry official here said Seoul has not considered or discussed any new joint declaration with Tokyo and no decision has been made on Lee’s trip to Japan.

Kitazawa’s two-day trip to Seoul next week is reciprocal to former South Korean defense minister Lee Sang-hee’s visit to Japan in April 2009.

On Tuesday, Kitazawa is scheduled to visit the truce village of Panmunjeom, the nearby Dora Observatory and the Navy’s Second Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek where the sunken naval ship, the Cheonan, is displayed.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)