SEOUL: US Defence Secretary Mark Esper met with senior South Korean leaders on Friday amid a series of regional challenges ranging from a bitter trade row between Seoul and Tokyo to the cost of US troops stationed in South Korea.
Esper, on his first international trip since being confirmed as defence secretary, arrived in South Korea on Thursday evening against the backdrop of an escalating trade feud between two of Washington’s main Asian allies.
While the trade issue, which threatens regional intelligence sharing, came up in his meetings in Seoul, Esper reiterated the importance of the South Korean-US alliance and said the allies would continue to coordinate on North Korea.
In his opening remarks of the meeting with Esper, South Korean Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Japan’s export restrictions against South Korea are “causing adverse effects on South Korea-Japan relations and security cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan”.
South Korea has said it was exploring all options in its trade dispute with Japan, including scrapping an intelligence sharing pact.
The accord, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), facilitates three-way intelligence gathering with Washington, which is crucial in fending off North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. The deal is automatically renewed annually on August 24.
Relations between South Korea and Japan are at their worst in decades, with the trade row rooted in a long-running dispute over compensation for South Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms during World War Two. — Reuters
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