By PARK CHAN-KYONG
SEOUL — South Korea Friday postponed at the last minute the signing of a landmark military agreement with Japan, amid anger in Seoul over the planned pact with a former colonial ruler.
The information-sharing pact would have been their first military agreement since the end of Japan’s brutal 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea.
It would have enabled the two sides, both of whom are close U.S. allies, to swap intelligence about North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs and other defense issues.
Many older Koreans have bitter memories of Japan’s rule and military cooperation is a sensitive issue. Both the ruling and opposition parties in Seoul called for a delay, saying details have been kept secret.
A senior official of the ruling New Frontier Party, Chin Young, said the public opposes some aspects and it was inappropriate “to rush the signing of the agreement, with its details remaining unknown to the public”.
Read the full story at DefenseNews