The Meaning of GSOMIA Termination: Escalation of the Japan-Korea Dispute

Key Points

• The South Korean government announcement today of its intention not to renew the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) represents escalation of the Japan-Korea dispute after each side removed the other from preferred trade partner lists (so-called “whitelists”) earlier this month.
• This agreement allowed for more seamless intelligence sharing among the two allies and the United States regarding the North Korea activities in the region. 
• Once terminated, the agreement will be hard to reconstitute given domestic political obstacles in the past, particularly in South Korea.
• While this action is vindictively directed at Japan, it weakens the U.S.-ROK alliance as it weakens trilateral cooperation among the three countries.
• No policy action of this type takes place in a vacuum. This development is beneficial to countries opposed to the U.S. alliance system including North Korea, China, and Russia.