U S, Japan, S Korea in intel sharing deal against N Korea

SEOUL, Dec 26 (agencies): The United States, Japan and South Korea have agreed a rare trilateral military arrangement on intelligence sharing about North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, officials said Friday.

The deal, which is to be signed on Monday according to South Korea's defence ministry, comes at a time of heightened concern about North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, which are seen as a major security concern in the Pacific region and beyond.

But in a sign of the long-held distrust between Seoul and Tokyo, South Korea will not pass military information directly to Japan, and will instead use the US as an intermediary.

The nuclear-armed North has threatened the US and South Korea with nuclear strikes, most recently over a UN resolution on its human rights abuses and Sony Pictures' madcap comedy "The Interview".

As Japan lies well within the range of North Korea's mid-range missiles, acquiring military intelligence on North Korea in a timely manner is vital for its security.

"Ever since defense ministers of Japan, the United States and South Korea agreed on the importance of information sharing in May, discussion has taken place at various levels," a Japanese Defence Ministry official told a media briefing. "And now we are in the final stages toward signing."

Under the framework, South Korea would pass relevant information to the United States, with which Seoul already has a legally-binding pact to share and safeguard intelligence called General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), and then the U.S. would pass the information onto Japan.

It would also work the other way around as the United States has signed a GSOMIA with Japan as well.

Some South Koreans have voiced concerns about signing a security pact with Japan, a one-time colonial ruler. Besides Japan's annexation of Korean peninsula that ended in 1945, bilateral ties have been plagued by a prolonged territorial dispute over a group of tiny islets.

The scope of information to be shared between the three countries will be confined to intelligence on threats related to North Korea, reflecting negative public sentiment in South Korea towards greater cooperation with Japan.

As a result, rather than sharing military information directly with Japan, South Korea will provide its intelligence through the US.

The United States, which maintains separate bilateral military accords with both South Korea and Japan, has pushed for better defence cooperation between its allies in the face of China's growing influence in the region.

But negotiations on forging a bilateral military deal between Seoul and Tokyo fell apart two years ago when a territorial row intensified over disputed islands in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

Relations between the two countries are currently at their lowest ebb for years due to various other disputes linked to Japan's 1910-45 rule over the Korean peninsula.

South Korea and China, also mired in territorial disputes with Japan, view a highly contentious change in Japan's pacifist stance with deep suspicion.

Seoul, which seeks to expand strategic ties with Beijing, has also been reluctant to join a US-led missile defence system intended to keep China in check.