Yoon, Biden, Kishida agree to real-time intel sharing

Diplomacy

Published: 14 Nov. 2022, 15:42 Updated: 14 Nov. 2022, 15:51

Yoon, Biden, Kishida agree to real-time intel sharing

Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands before a bilateral summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The leaders of South Korea, Japan and the United States agreed to share information about North Korean missiles in Cambodia Sunday.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement after their second trilateral summit, which lasted around 15 minutes, on the sidelines of Asean meetings in Phnom Penh.

The leaders said they "intend to share DPRK missile warning data in real time to improve each country's ability to detect and assess the threat posed by incoming missiles, a major step for deterrence, peace and stability," according to their statement, referring to acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Analysts said security cooperation seemed to be getting back on track after a General Security of Military Information Agreement (Gsomia), a bilateral intelligence-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo, was nearly scrapped in 2019.

The Gsomia was established in 2016 and renewed annually through 2018.

In August 2019, the Moon Jae-in administration announced its decision to terminate the Gsomia in response to Japanese restrictions on exports to Korea of industrial materials needed to make microchips and displays and removal of Seoul from a so-called white list of preferred trading partners. Japan's export curbs were seen as retaliation for Supreme Court rulings in Korea in 2018 ordering Japanese companies to compensate Korean forced laborers during World War II.

In November 2019, the Moon government decided to conditionally extend the bilateral pact after pressure by Washington.

However, relations between Seoul and Tokyo kept deteriorating, which had an impact on three-way security cooperation.

Since it took power in May, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has tried to improve relations with Japan and normalizing security cooperation, a message conveyed by Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during their talks in Washington on June 13.

Real time sharing of missile information appears to go beyond Gsomia, which allows South Korean and Japanese military authorities to share information when requested by the other side. Defense officials say intelligence sharing through Gsomia can't be considered real time.

The three countries have shared real-time information on the detecting and tracking of North Korean ballistic missiles through Aegis destroyers during missile defense training but they haven't shared such information in real time during peacetime.

However, it is unclear how the three countries will share real-time intelligence on North Korea's missiles. Military sources point out that the United States will likely be the key to information sharing, and that while there are various systems in place for South Korea and the United States to share information in real time down to operational units, there is no such network with Japan.

Col. Moon Hong-sik, the Defense Ministry's deputy spokesman, told reporters in a briefing in Seoul Monday that "when a broad framework is agreed upon between leaders, it is a normal procedure for the ministries in charge to develop specific measures through detailed discussions."

Yoon, Biden and Kishida held their first trilateral summit on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Madrid on June 29.

During their meeting Sunday, Biden said in opening remarks that South Korea and Japan "are both critical allies of the United States" and that they engage in the trilateral cooperation "out of a shared concern for the nuclear and missile threats North Korea poses to our people."

"The current developments on the Korean Peninsula and in the region and beyond require the strongest level of our trilateral coordination," said Yoon in his remarks.

According to the joint statement, Biden agreed to strengthen extended deterrence to Seoul and Tokyo and stressed that U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and Japan is "ironclad and backed by the full range of capabilities, including nuclear."

The three leaders "strongly condemned" North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches and pledged to "coordinate sanctions" while leaving open offers for dialogue.

Biden and Kishida expressed support for Yoon's "audacious initiative," a plan to help North Korea's economy provided Pyongyang takes steps toward denuclearization.

The three leaders said they "strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in waters of the Indo-Pacific, including through unlawful maritime claims, militarization of reclaimed features, and coercive activities," without mentioning China by name. They then stressed the "importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

They also highlighted growing regional partnership, including support for Asean, and emphasized the importance of trilateral cooperation to enhance economic security and prosperity throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Commending the "unprecedented level of trilateral coordination," they said they will align their "collective efforts in pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive, resilient, and secure."

After the trilateral talks, Yoon and Kishida held a bilateral summit which lasted 45 minutes and discussed cooperation on North Korea.

They condemned the North's recent missile threats as a "serious provocation that threatens the peace and security of not only the Korean Peninsula but Northeast Asia and the international community," according to the presidential office in a statement.

The two leaders said that they will "continue consultations for an early resolution of pending issues between the two countries."

The press statement did not elaborate further on how the two sides will overcome their historical disputes stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule such as compensation for forced labor victims.

They also welcomed the "recent rapid recovery of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries."

Kishida expressed his condolences for the Itaewon crowd crush on Oct. 29. Yoon expressed his condolences for two Japanese victims of the tragedy.

Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, and U.S. President Joe Biden shake hands ahead of their bilateral summit at a hotel in Phnom Penh Sunday. [YONHAP]

Earlier Sunday, Yoon held a bilateral summit with Biden which lasted around 50 minutes, and the two leaders discussed major economic matters, the North Korea nuclear problem, a combined defense posture and other regional issues.

The presidential office said that Yoon noted that the bilateral consultation channel on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is being operated closely after Biden's personal letter on the issue last month.

Biden said that Korean companies are contributing greatly to the U.S. economy in areas such as automobiles and electric batteries, and said that implementation of the IRA is expected to take this into consideration, said Yoon's office.

Yoon explained his Indo-Pacific strategy and said South Korea plans to formally partake in the Partners in the Blue Pacific initiative launched by the United States and other countries to support the Pacific region.

The two presidents also "reaffirmed that if North Korea uses any form of nuclear weapons, South Korea and the United States will respond with overwhelming force using all available means."

The White House in its statement Sunday also made mention of the IRA.

It said that Biden "laid out the ambitious U.S. agenda to combat the climate crisis through historic investments in green technology facilitated by the Inflation Reduction Act" and that the two leaders discussed the important role U.S. and South Korean companies will play to meet "shared climate goals."

"The three leaders did coordinate on a joint response in the event that there would be a seventh nuclear test by the DPRK," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters en route to Bali Sunday. "And they tasked their teams to work out the elements of that response in real detail."

He said the response is "in the stage of just being refined," and that "you can expect a trilateral response, well-coordinated, among the three countries in the event that there is such a test."

Yoon and Biden held their first summit in May in Seoul. They had brief encounters during their overlapping trips to Britain for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and the UN General Assembly in New York in September. However, a second bilateral summit didn't come about.

Yoon and Kishida held their first informal bilateral talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September.

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