Seoul eyes intelligence-sharing pact with Bangkok as President Moon Jae-in seeks pivot to Asean

As part of the New Southern Policy, South Korea aims to reduce its reliance on the US, China, Japan and Russia

Partnering with Seoul could help Asean avoid debt traps with China, observers say, but others point to Beijing’s ‘unmatched’ ability to invest in the region

Reading Time:4 minutes

South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Photo: AP

Published: 8:30am, 1 Sep 2019Updated: 4:56pm, 1 Sep 2019

As the US-China trade war intensifies and South Korea’s spat with Japan shows no sign of abating, Seoul is doubling down on its diplomatic pivot to Southeast Asia.

On September 1, President Moon Jae-in will begin a visit to Thailand, Myanmar and Laos as part of the New Southern Policy drive to reduce reliance on the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

To signal its growing interest in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), South Korea will seek an intelligence-sharing pact – called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) – with Thailand.

The plan, approved by South Korea’s cabinet this month, comes after Seoul last week scrapped its GSOMIA with Tokyo in an escalating row triggered by historical differences over Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.

The unprecedented move drew criticism from US officials for threatening to undermine a defence alliance triumvirate that has helped to contain North Korean, Russian and Chinese adventurism in northeast Asia.

US officials said the decision exposed the 28,500 American troops in South Korea to greater danger from the North, fuelling talk that Washington would push for Seoul to pick up a bigger tab during next year’s cost-sharing negotiations for US troops. According to some reports, the US is looking to raise South Korea’s bill by five times, to some US$5 billion per year.