Stephan Haggard on Korea-Japan Relations
Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Government of Japan on the Protection of Classified Information
07/10/2012
Stephan Haggard and Jaesung Ryu,
Peterson Institute for International Economics
We lead with the title, because too much has been made of this agreement, both in the US press and in Korea. However as is so often the case in international politics, perception has independent significance. First, there are the signals sent with respect to US alliance relations in the region vis-à-vis China and North Korea. Is this agreement a step on the road to the trilateralization of alliance ties in North East Asia? We are dubious. But South Korean media reports mention that such an agreement was sought by the U.S. Even such intelligence sharing raises a host of strategic issues for South Korea, and in particular the question of whether deeper cooperation with Japan—and even the US—would constitute a constraint on its economic ties with China.
A particular issue has to do with missile defense. Some have argued that the agreement in fact has more operational significance than it appears because it recognizes equipment and technology as among the classified information that can be shared. The agreement would therefore make it easier for the U.S., Japan and Korea to cooperate on missile defenses. Again, we are dubious; this argument has the tail wagging the dog. If the three countries develop closer missile defense cooperation it will not be as a result of an information-sharing agreement but of shared perceptions of the challenges posed by China and North Korea.
Click here to read the full article.Related Links
Stephan Haggard is the director of the Korea-Pacific Program at IR/PS, where he specializes in the Korean economy. In 2011 Haggard published Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea with co-author Marcus Noland, with whom he had previously authored Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform. Dr. Haggard writes the "North Korea: Witness to Transformation" blog at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
