hankyoreh

By Kim Kyu-won and Um Ji-won, staff reporters

The government said it plans to move according to schedule in signing a military intelligence protection agreement with Japan. The pact was approved in a cabinet meeting on June 25 and is scheduled to be signed on June 29. Normally such acts are made public two or three days before the meeting, but this was pushed through without any public scrutiny.

Politicians, civic groups, and experts are demanding that the signing be postponed and the matter submitted to debate in the National Assembly.

Speaking at a regular briefing on June 28, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Cho Byung-je said, “Under the current plan, we should be able to sign [the agreement] some time around Friday afternoon, barring any problems.”

Cho said the deal would be signed in Tokyo by Shin Kak-soo, South Korea’s ambassador to Japan, and Japan’s minister of foreign affairs Koichiro Gemba.

The agreement is expected to be raised and passed in the Japanese Cabinet on the same day. Shin’s signature requires approval from the president, which a Blue House official said would come no later than Friday morning.

Cho indicated that there are no plans to reopen discussions on the matter despite widespread objections. “We have received an opinion from the Ministry of Government Legislation that this agreement does not require National Assembly consent, just like the 12 similar agreements we signed in the past,” he said.

Cho said discussions were still under way on a logistical support agreement with Japan. “It’s difficult to say right now when that will be signed,” he said.

Politicians, civic groups, and experts issued strong calls for additional discussion and reapproval in the National Assembly.

Democratic United Party spokesman Park Yong-jin said, “This agreement that was blitzed through the Cabinet is null and void. We need to postpone signing it and reach a decision after discussions in the National Assembly and public debate.”

New Frontier Party presidential hopeful Chung Mong-joon expressed his opposition to the signing during a Kwanhun Club debate on June 28. “This was clearly mishandled, and the Prime Minister needs to withdraw [the agreement] and apologize,” he said.

Civic groups also called for a reconsideration of the agreement, which they said could accelerate Japan’s development into a major military power.

The Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities, Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea, Korea Veterans for Peace, and around 60 other groups staged a press conference June 28 in front of the Central Government Complex on Seoul’s Sejong Road to call for an immediate halt to the signing procedures. “Signing this agreement can only deepen military tensions and the arms race on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia,” they said.

Yonsei University professor Park Myung-lim said the agreement posed a great risk of diminishing the US’s role in Northeast Asia and increasing the influence of Japan.

“Given how great an impact this agreement will have on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, it should first be discussed by the National Assembly,” he said.

University of North Korean Studies professor Yang Mu-jin agreed.

“There really is no hurry,” he said. “This is a matter that needs to be handled with the greatest of care, and it’s difficult to comprehend why the government refuses to discuss it.”

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]