In surprise move, South Korea postpones military intelligence pact with Japan

South Korea Postpones Military Intelligence Pact: South Korea has abruptly backed off from signing a historic agreement to share military intelligence with Japan in a move that highlights the century-old tensions between the two countries.  Defense officials postponed the pact’s ratification just ahead of the signing ceremony on Friday in Tokyo.

South Koreans will elect a new leader later this year and the ruling New Frontier Party is trying to distance itself from President Lee who cannot seek another term in office. And in South Korea, appearing too close to the Japanese government, let alone the military, could be political harakiri.

Trust between these East Asian neighbors is hard to come by. Many South Koreans feel Tokyo is unrepentant for its brutal early 20th century rule of the peninsula, which ended in 1945.

“Korea is one of the countries that suffered a lot because of Japanese military imperialism. So it doesn’t make sense to have this agreement when you consider national sentiment,” says Ahn Seon-mi, whose civic group Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan supports weekly protests in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. South Korean historians estimate that around 200,000 so-called comfort women were forced to serve in front-line brothels during World War II.

The military agreement would have been the first of its kind between the two nations and aimed to enhance cooperation in confronting North Korea’s nuclear and conventional weapons programs.

Seoul and Tokyo were on heightened alert in April ahead of what became North Korea’s failed attempt to send a rocket into space. Leaders in both nations vowed to shoot down the rocket, believed to be a front for a long-range missile test, if it strayed into their territories.