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US defence chief heads to Seoul to save security alliance to counter North Korea and China
- Mark Esper needs to convince South Korea to stick with intelligence-sharing pact known as GSOMIA despite rift with Japan
- An analyst says Moon would rather pay more for the US-Korea defence alliance than soften its stance towards Japan
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South Korea is digging in its heels as the United States pressures it to renew a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, complicating Washington’s bid to retain a three-party alliance it considers vital to counter regional security threats.
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, who is set to meet his Korean counterpart on Friday, faces an uphill battle to convince President Moon Jae-in to revise his decision to let the 2016 pact known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) lapse on November 23.
US officials and military leaders say dissolving GSOMIA – which among other things involved Tokyo and Seoul exchanging details directly about Pyongyang’s missile tests – would facilitate China’s increased influence in the Pacific and North Korea’s nuclear activities.
“My message will be very clear … the GSOMIA must be maintained,” Esper said en route to Seoul.
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“Let’s focus on how we partner as allies to deter North Korean bad behaviour and then in the long term deal with the Chinese.
“The only folks who are benefiting from this dispute right now are North Korea and China. And that is all the reason we need to move beyond this and get back to where we were in terms of working together as partners and allies,” said Esper, whose comments came as US and Korean military chiefs met in Seoul on Thursday.
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