Korea has fallen significantly behind in security cooperation with Japan, even compared with countries such as Australia and the Philippines, according to a critique presented at an academic conference. Given the instability of the international situation, institutionalizing high-level security cooperation and pursuing security cooperation that can create mutual benefits in areas such as space security and defense were proposed as future tasks.
Kim Ji-young, a professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at Hanyang University, made the remarks Monday at the spring academic conference of the Korea Association of Contemporary Japanese Studies, held at Seoul National University in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, under the theme "Reexamining and Reenvisioning the 60th Anniversary of Korea-Japan Diplomatic Ties." "Because stability between the United States and its allies is no longer guaranteed as it was in the past, Korea and Japan must establish an autonomous and cooperative security foundation through mutual cooperation," she said.
According to Kim, comparing the bilateral security cooperation of Japan with Korea, Australia, and the Philippines respectively, Korea-Japan cooperation remains limited compared with Japan-Australia and Japan-Philippines cooperation. Security relations between two countries can typically be classified as alliances, quasi-alliances, or friendly states based on criteria such as the existence of a military alliance treaty, the track record of security agreements, and the frequency of military exchanges. By these criteria, Korea-Japan is at the friendly state level, while Japan-Australia and Japan-Philippines are at the quasi-alliance level.
In fact, the only bilateral military agreement between Korea and Japan is the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which covers the exchange of military information on matters such as North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles, while Australia and the Philippines are each seeing their level of security cooperation rise. Kim called this "a surprising result, given that the Korea-Japan security relationship is long-standing and that the two countries share regional security interests."
However, she noted that strengthening Korea-Japan cooperation is essential given the overall instability of supply chains including energy, the threats from North Korea, China, and Russia, the U.S.-China strategic competition, and the volatility of U.S. foreign strategy.
As measures toward this end, Kim proposed institutionalizing high-level strategic dialogue and establishing institutionalized mechanisms that go beyond GSOMIA. "The Korea-Japan 2+2 talks were recently elevated to the vice-ministerial level, but they must ultimately be elevated to the ministerial level, and the Korea-U.S.-Japan joint secretariat needs to be developed into a more independent body," she said. "The starting point for institutionalizing security cooperation could be strengthening cooperation in the field of disaster relief." She explained that disaster relief cooperation and maritime security cooperation, in particular, are realistic starting points that need not raise concerns about public antipathy.
Kim also stressed, "Security cooperation so far has focused on responding to common threats, but from now on it needs to develop in a direction that creates common interests." She added, "Interest-based cooperation will serve as the foundation for sustainable cooperation even when there is political conflict." For example, she said cooperation is possible in fields such as space security and defense, which both countries intend to nurture as future growth industries while also strengthening their security capabilities. "Korea's defense industry has strengths in export capacity and mass production, while Japan's defense industry has strengths in advanced technology, making them complementary," Kim said. "Because there may be constraints due to issues such as historical disputes, rather than jointly developing combat systems and weapons like U.S.-Japan cooperation, we can start with cooperation focused on stabilizing core components such as drones, radar, and semiconductors."
