Tokyo To Only Benefit China, N. Korea By Axing Intelligence Sharing Pact - Pentagon

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned on Friday that the looming termination of the intelligence sharing pact between South Korea and Japan would only play into the hands of Beijing and Pyongyang, urging the regional allies to resolve their differences and save the deal

Seoul, (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2019) US Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned on Friday that the looming termination of the intelligence sharing pact between South Korea and Japan would only play into the hands of Beijing and Pyongyang, urging the regional allies to resolve their differences and save the deal.

Earlier in the day, Esper held the annual Security Consultative Meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Jeong Kyeong-doo, in Seoul. The talks come as the intelligence sharing pact between Japan and South Korea is set to expire on November 23 after Seoul refused to extend it amid the widening trade row.

"The only ones who will benefit from expiration of GSOMIA [General Security of Military Information Agreement] and continued friction between Seoul and Tokyo are Pyongyang and Beijing. That reason alone should be powerful enough for us to sit down and make sure we restore our alliance to where it was so we can work together to respond to our common threats and challenges," Esper said after the talks, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

Tensions between Seoul and Tokyo deepened in summer over the issue of compensation for the use of forced labor by Japan during World War II. The rift has since expanded to mutual trade restrictions and even defense cooperation, with South Korea refusing to extend the intelligence sharing agreement with Japan in August.

At the press conference, Esper was also asked whether the US and South Korea planned to go ahead with their traditional drills scheduled for December, which were suspended last year over Pyongyang's complaints.

The Pentagon chief declined to give a direct answer, noting that the armed forces should not only "buttress our diplomacy" but also "enable and empower it."

"[We should] remain flexible in terms of how we support our diplomats to ensure that we do not close any doors that may allow for the progress on the diplomatic front," he said.

In October, Pyongyang gave Washington until the end of the year to come up with a mutually acceptable deal to advance in the denuclearization process.