At meetings in Singapore, S. Korea and US to also discuss testing of anthrax by US forces in Korea

South Korea, the US, and Japan are organizing working-level discussions to review and prevent possible infringement of the Korean Peninsula’s sovereignty by the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ (JSDF) exercise of collective self-defense, sources said.

Meanwhile, the issue of anthrax testing by USFK is slated for emergency discussion at talks scheduled for May 30 between the South Korean and US defense ministers.

A diplomatic source said on May 29 the issue of concerns about a possible JSDF presence on the Korean Peninsula is “supposed to be on the agenda” at talks between South Korean Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo and his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani on May 30 during the Asia Security Summit (Shangri-La Dialogue).

“They are likely to discuss pushing the working-level talks on the issue as part of the Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) framework with the US,” the source added.

First launched in 2008, the DTT is a body for dialogue among South Korean, US, and Japanese defense officials at the assistant minister level.

The working-level talks will include a review and discussions of the effect on South Korean interests and security from the US and Japan’s recent amendment of their defense cooperation guidelines, sources said. In particular, the plan is reportedly to discuss specific scenarios for the reinforcement of USFJ troops and other overseas US forces on the peninsula in the event of an emergency.

According to Operations Plan 5027, USFJ and other overseas US forces would be turned out on the peninsula by way of seven UN Command rear bases in an emergency situation, including Yokoto and Futenma in Japan. The amendment of the defense cooperation guidelines expanded the scope of JSDF’s protection and rear-area support activities for US troops - sparking growing concerns about their possible presence on the Korean Peninsula. The aim now appears to be to review and head off that possibility by defining specific scenarios at the trilateral working-level talks.

But the talks could end up being used as a way for Japan to further increase the JSDF’s role or serve as a framework for dialogue to bolster trilateral security cooperation.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense reported that the issue of a recent delivery of a live anthrax sample to a USFK base will be an emergency agenda item at a bilateral meeting on May 30 between Han and US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.

Issues reportedly slated for discussion at the defense minister talks include plans for assessing and cooperating on the North Korean nuclear and missile treats, increased practical cooperation by South Korea and Japan in defense areas, cooperating on anti-piracy operations, disaster rescue training, and the prevention of accidental clashes in regions where the two countries’ air defense identification zones overlap.

Trilateral defense minister talks with Japan are also to include discussions on plans for institutionalizing the three countries’ intelligence sharing agreement, linkage between the Korean Air and Missile Defense system and USFK’s missile defense system, and sharing of the status of Japan’s defense laws.

Meanwhile, a tense standoff between the US and China over territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea is being predicted for the Shangri-La Dialogue, which began on May 29. As a representative, China sent People’s Liberation Army deputy chief of general staff Sun Jianguo, a naval admiral who appears likely to defense China’s building of artificial islands in the South China Sea.

While meeting with reporters en route to Singapore on May 28, Carter delivered a message calling on China to stop building the islands and peacefully resolve its disputes.

By Park Byong-soo, senior staff writer in Singapore and Seong Yeon-cheol, Beijing correspondent

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