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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meeting during the ASEAN Plus Three summit in Bangkok on Nov. 4. (Blue House)

An unnamed senior US State Department official said on Nov. 15 that the US would not be mediating on the issue of the South Korea-Japan General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which is set to terminate at midnight on Nov. 23, but added that this did not mean it would be completely detached from the process and expressed hope that the two sides can resolve the matter through dialogue.

Speaking at the State Department in Washington that day, the senior official provided an explanation to reporters on the outcome of visits earlier this month to East Asian countries including South Korea, China, Japan, and Malaysia. Regarding their discussions in South Korea, the official said they had stressed the importance of GSOMIA for collective security during a meeting with senior South Korean officials and urged Seoul not to allow such an important information sharing agreement to end.

The official also said they had made it clear to South Korean officials that the US would not mediate between its two key allies, but that it would remain involved and urge them to relax their tensions and find creative solutions to their differences. Explaining that the US would not be mediating but that this did not mean it would not be involved, the official noted the steady “drumbeat” of calls for the two sides to find their way back into a productive relationship.

The same official said that in an earlier visit to Japan, they had stressed how recent missile testing by North Korea underscored the importance of South Korea-US security cooperation and information sharing. The official also said they had explained that Pyongyang, Moscow, and Beijing would be the only winners from rising tensions between Japan and South Korea.

The official explained that the US was encouraging South Korea and Japan to cooperate, adding that it was not in the US’ or their interests for Washington to mediate the issue and stressing that the two sides needed to meet for additional dialogue. Emphasizing the need for South Korea and Japan to resolve their issues on their own, the official said the US is doing all it can to help that dialogue happen.

In response to a question about South Korea-Japan dialogue, the official used a naval analogy, suggesting that the “bow” was beginning to turn up after previously heading downward. The official also made references to South Korean Prime Minister Nak-yeon’s visit to Japan last month and a meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the East Asia Summit in Bangkok on Nov. 4. While they recommended that questions about South Korea and Japan’s dialogue should be directed to them, the official said they were “hopeful,” noting that the leaders appeared to be smiling and positive in photographs.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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