South Korea will set up a military data link to share imagery and real-time intelligence with Japan and the United States, a Korean news agency quoted the nation¡¯s Defense Ministry as saying Friday.
Yonhap news agency said the South Korean military data network will hook into that operated by United States troops, based in Osan, with a so-called Link 16 connection ¡ª a tactical data exchange system used by the U.S. and NATO nations.
This gives Seoul an intelligence link to Tokyo, as the Self-Defense Forces already operate a Link 16 connection to the U.S. network, Yonhap said.
The allies will share text and imagery intelligence on North Korea¡¯s nuclear and missile activities, such as data collected by a U.S. reconnaissance satellite monitoring the Korean Peninsula, it said.
Work on a broad bilateral deal to share intelligence fell apart in June 2012 shortly before it was due to be approved, at a time of rapid deterioration in Tokyo-Seoul relations. In December 2014, an agreement with Washington pledged greater trilateral sharing of intelligence on North Korea.
Friday¡¯s report quoted a South Korean defense official downplaying the planned extent of cooperation with Japan.
¡°Despite the U.S.-Japan linkage, information sharing will not take place without the agreement from each side and, even if it takes place, it will be confined to subjects on North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapons and missiles,¡± Yonhap quoted the unnamed official as saying.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.