South Korean Gov't Working To Restore Intelligence-Sharing Pact With Japan - Reports

South Korea's defense ministry has asked the foreign ministry to launch the process of restoring the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan as the two countries are normalizing relations, South Korean media reported on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2023) South Korea's defense ministry has asked the foreign ministry to launch the process of restoring the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan as the two countries are normalizing relations, South Korean media reported on Friday.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry will send an official letter to Japan's foreign ministry in the near future, the Yonhap news agency reported.

GSOMIA was signed in 2016 and terminated in 2019 at South Korea's initiative as the two countries clashed in a diplomatic and trade dispute over reparations for South Korean victims of forced labor during Japanese colonial rule.

Last week, the South Korean government suggested an alternative plan where South Korean victims would be compensated from a domestic fund rather than by Japanese companies. Tokyo welcomed the plan.

On Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a landmark meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo during which they agreed to normalize the agreement to better respond to North Korea's military activity in the region.