The US and Japan are continuing their open courtship of South Korea as they try to strengthen military ties between the three countries.

Last week, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter emphasized the importance of trilateral military cooperation during consecutive visits to South Korea and Japan. Now, Japan is expected to ask South Korea to sign an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement (ACSA), which would enable the military authorities of the two countries to loan each other fuel, ammunition, and other military supplies.

An article on the topic appeared in Japanese newspaper the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on Apr. 12. “Using a revision of the defense cooperation guidelines that would increase Japan Self-Defense Forces’ support for US forces as leverage, the governments of the US and Japan are also planning to intensify their defense cooperation with South Korea,” the newspaper said.

“As part of this, Japan is working to hold a bilateral meeting with South Korea’s Defense Minister in May to lay the groundwork for signing an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement through which the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the South Korean military could provide each mutual support in fuel and other munitions,” it continued.

In December of last year, the three countries signed an information-sharing arrangement, putatively to counter the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles. The arrangement represents the first step toward a trilateral military alliance.

Currently, the US and Japan are planning to give final approval during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to the US on Apr. 27 to a revision to the defense cooperation guidelines that would extend the area of operations for the bilateral alliance to the whole world. The revised guidelines would expand the scope of Japan’s logistical support for the US, enabling it to provide ammunition to US forces, something that is currently prohibited.

Another change is that the revision would allow Japan to support not only the US military but also the militaries of other countries that are responding to situations that have an important effect on the peace and stability of Japan. This indicates that Japan is willing to provide military support not only to the US but also to South Korea in the event of a contingency occurring on the Korean Peninsula.

However, since South Korea and Japan have not currently signed an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement, the Japan Self-Defense Forces cannot at present provide logistical support to the South Korean military. In regard to this point, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun wrote, “Japan regards signing the ACSA as the biggest priority for security cooperation with South Korea. Without this, the Japanese government believes, it would be impossible to provide logistical support to the South Korean military.”

These circumstances may be reflected in a spate of meetings between South Korean and Japanese diplomats and security officials that will begin this week. On Apr. 14, a security policy deliberative meeting will be held in Seoul for the first time in five years, bringing together bureau chiefs from the two countries in the areas of diplomacy and security.

On Apr. 16, the vice foreign ministers of South Korea, the US, and Japan will be convening in Washington, D.C. At this second meeting, the three countries are expected to discuss ways to strengthen military cooperation, taking into account the revision to the US and Japan’s defense cooperation guidelines.

Japan is planning to go even further by arranging for bilateral meetings of defense ministers during the IISS Asia Security Summit (Shangri-La Dialogue), which will be taking place in Singapore this May.

“Since it would be meaningful for the defense ministers of the two countries to meet at an early occasion to share their honest opinions, we will work on helping the two governments to coordinate a meeting,” Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said on Apr. 10.

By Gil Yun-hyung, Tokyo correspondent

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