Japan, South Korea work together to deter adversaries
Felix Kim
Defense cooperation between Japan and South Korea is gaining momentum as the Indo-Pacific partners increasingly recognize the value of intelligence sharing and missile defense collaboration to deter and defend against threats from North Korea and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The cooperation bolsters the alliances both countries have with the United States, forming a powerful trilateral partnership.
South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook described security cooperation with Japan as a “valuable asset” in defense of the Korean Peninsula in a March 22, 2021, interview with Bloomberg TV. He held talks the previous week with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in which he described South Korea’s alliance with the U.S. as central to protection of the peninsula.
Sharing intelligence and working together on missile defense is critical for Japan and South Korea, said Dr. Bruce Bennett, a senior international/defense researcher at the Rand Corp. “Cooperation on missile defense becomes important, especially if North Korea launches something at South Korea, such as one of these new missiles,” Bennett said. “They’ve only got a few minutes before that missile hits South Korea, and every few seconds extra that they can gain on understanding where it is and how it’s going gives them a better opportunity to intercept it.”
Japan’s satellites and other intelligence capabilities could give South Korea those extra seconds. “So, this is not just a strategic issue. It’s also a very tactical issue in terms of defense,” Bennett said.
Seoul and Tokyo maintain the General Security of Military Information Agreement, which enables them to directly share information with each other regarding North Korea’s military and nuclear activities.
Japan also collects information about North Korea’s maritime activities in the Sea of Japan, which is known in South Korea as the East Sea, Bennett said. (Pictured: Top diplomats from Japan, South Korea and the United States convene at a February 2020 conference in Munich, Germany, to strengthen their defense and diplomatic partnerships.)
North Korea is determined to unify with South Korea under its own terms and is prepared to use a military invasion to do so, Bennett emphasized. Closer defense cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo would make Pyongyang’s job much harder, he said.
As Japan and South Korea enhance their defense cooperation, the U.S. will be better equipped to help protect them, he added. The U.S. needs “airfields and ports and other facilities in Japan in order to get forces rapidly to the Korean Peninsula,” Bennett said. “So, it really is in everybody’s interest to cooperate together in this area.”
The PRC poses an ongoing threat to both countries and has resorted to what Bennett characterized as economic warfare to punish Seoul for installing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system. “Beijing wants to be the global superpower,” he said. “It wants to dominate the world.”
Felix Kim is a FORUM contributor reporting from Seoul, South Korea.
IMAGE CREDIT: REUTERS
