Korea fully restores military intel pact with Japan

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks on the normalization of Korea-Japan relations at a Cabinet meeting held at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

South Korea's Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that the government has fully restored the General Security of Military Information Agreement (Gsomia), the country's bilateral military intelligence-sharing with Japan.

The Foreign Ministry said that it had notified Japan through diplomatic channels of its decision to formally withdraw its 2019 suspension of Gsomia, completing a technical process, as a follow-up to the bilateral summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week.

The two leaders during the bilateral summit last Thursday agreed to normalize Gsomia, a move to strengthen bilateral security cooperation, particularly regarding North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

President Yoon in a televised Cabinet meeting Tuesday stressed the importance of putting the two countries' past behind them to prioritize shared security and economic interests going forward.

"Korea-Japan relations can, and must be, a win-win relationship where we work together and gain more together," said Yoon in his first public message on the summit since his trip to Tokyo last Thursday and Friday. "It is not a zero-sum relationship where if one side gains more, the other side loses that much."

Recalling how North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) just hours before his departure for Japan on Thursday, Yoon said, "I decided that it was urgent to completely share information on North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles between South Korea and Japan and declared at the South Korea-Japan summit that we would preemptively normalize Gsomia without preconditions."

He added that the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry has "accordingly implemented necessary legal measures" to enable this process.

In the summer of 2019, the Japanese government unilaterally imposed exports restrictions on key materials and removed Korea from a so-called "white list" of preferred trading partners. Japan cited "security" concerns, but the move was seen as retaliation following the Korean Supreme Court's rulings in late 2018 ordering two Japanese companies to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.

In a tit-for-tat measure, Seoul declared plans in August 2019 to terminate Gsomia with Tokyo, established in 2016 as a rare symbol of security cooperation between the two countries and renewed annually through 2018. Washington vehemently protested the threatened termination of the agreement, prompting a flurry of behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

In an eleventh hour move in November 2019, the Moon Jae-in administration conditionally suspended the decision to terminate Gsomia just ahead of its expiration date, while still technically leaving open the possibility of the pact being scrapped at any time.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the Korean government has removed such technical "uncertainties" related to Gsomia and "laid the foundation for strengthening military intelligence cooperation" between Seoul and Tokyo, as well as trilaterally with Washington.

The United States, which has a separate three-way military information-sharing agreement with South Korea and Japan, has welcomed the warming of ties between its East Asian allies, believing it will help trilateral security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Korea and Japan will also swiftly restore intergovernmental consultative bodies discussing "common interests" between the two countries, Yoon said during the Cabinet meeting Tuesday, and plans to hold strategic dialogues between their diplomatic and economic authorities including the National Security Council.

"We must face the past and remember it," said Yoon, addressing Korea's pain from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. "But we shouldn't get caught up in the past."

"We have confirmed that we are the closest neighbors and partners to cooperate in pursuing common interests in security, economy and the global agenda," said Yoon, as countries that "share the universal values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law."

Yoon recollected the deteriorated bilateral relations between the two countries in recent years, noting that "Korea-Japan relations had been neglected to the brink of catastrophe."

Yoon blamed the previous administration for neglecting relations with Japan and said he could have done the same, noting he felt as if he were "trapped in a maze with no exit" when contemplating the normalization of Seoul-Tokyo relations.

"However, I thought that if I tried to incite hostile nationalism and anti-Japanese sentiment and use it for domestic politics, leaving behind the grave international situation, I would be abandoning my duties as president," said Yoon.

He noted there were "forces in our society that seek political gain while trumpeting exclusive nationalism and anti-Japanese sentiment." The remark appeared to be a thinly-veiled jab at the liberal Democratic Party (DP), which has accused Yoon of engaging in submissive diplomacy with Tokyo.

Regarding his government's decision to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor through a Seoul-backed public foundation, Yoon said it was the best "compromise" under the given circumstances between the 2018 Supreme Court rulings and the 1965 treaty normalizing bilateral relations with Japan, which Tokyo argues settled all claims issues.

Some victims, civic groups and DP lawmakers have criticized the third-party compensation plan as it doesn't include an apology or concrete ways for liable Japanese companies to compensate the victims.

Yoon said that in his summit with Kishida, the Japanese government said it will inherit the stances of previous governments on historical perceptions, including a 1998 joint statement between Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.

Kishida stopped short of explicitly repeating Japan's apology during his joint press conference with Yoon on Thursday.

"Japan has already expressed remorse and apologies to us on past historical issues dozens of times," said Yoon.

The two sides not only agreed to resume shuttle diplomacy between the two countries but also called on resuming a trilateral summit with China.

"We are now standing at a new turning point in history," said Yoon. "The normalization of Korea-Japan relations will ultimately bring a new sense of pride to our people and will repay our people and businesses with great benefits. And above all, it is sure to bring great hope and opportunity for the future generations of youths."

Kishida during his visit to India told reporters he invited leaders of South Korea, Brazil, India, Vietnam and four other countries to the upcoming Group of Seven, or G7, summit in Hiroshima in May, reported Japan's Kyodo News Agency and Yomiuri Shimbun Monday.

Kishida's visit for talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi came as Chinese President Xi Jinping was on a state visit to Moscow this week for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the two countries touted closer ties and strategic visions.

Responding to Japanese media reports, presidential spokesman Lee Do-woon said in a statement that an invitation to the G7 was seen as a "positive measure" following up on the Korea-Japan summit.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry also said in a statement Monday evening, "We welcome the Japanese government's invitation of Korea to the 2023 G7 summit."

Korea's participation is expected to be "an opportunity to actively participate in efforts to resolve unprecedented complex crises, while deepening solidarity and cooperation with G7 countries that share universal values," the ministry added.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]