Seoul says to suspend expiry of intel sharing pact with Japan

Seoul, v 22 (AFP) South Korea will suspend expiry of a critical military intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan, Seoul said Friday, just hours before pact was due to expire as two US allies row. Kim You-geun, a national security official at Seoul's presidential Blue House, confirmed accord, kwn as GSOMIA, would t be allowed to lapse at midnight.

" Japanese government has expressed ir understanding," he said. Seoul and Tokyo are both major US allies, democracies and market ecomies faced with an overbearing China and wayward rth. But ir relationship continues to be heavily affected by Japan's colonial rule of Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. latest manifestation of ir dispute over wartime history has escalated into a conflict over tre in wake of South Korean court rulings against Japanese companies.

Seoul anunced in August it would terminate General Security of Military Agreement (GSOMIA) -- which enables two US allies to directly share military secrets, particularly over Pyongyang's nuclear capacity. It h been due to expire at midnight. United States h frequently urged its two main allies in region to bury hatchet, stressing that only countries to benefit from row were rth Korea and China. suspension of expiry date comes on condition that GSOMIA can still "be terminated at any time," said Kim.