[Anchor Lead]

A military intelligence-sharing deal between South Korea and Japan officially took effect Wednesday. The two sides will now be able to exchange second-level military intel related to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

[Pkg]

Defense Minister Han Min-koo and Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Yasumasa Nagamine have officially signed the bilateral defense pact called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). The two countries are now able to directly share military intelligence without having to go through the United States. The agreement calls for sharing South Korea's military intelligence that is level two or below and Japan's confidential military secrets. The Seoul government expects the deal to significantly boost response capabilities to North Korea's nuclear and missile threat by combining South Korean assets of wiretapping and North Korean defectors with Japanese intelligence gathered through its spy satellites, ground-based radar and Aegis ships.

[Soundbite] Moon Sang-gyun(Ministry of Defense Spokesman) : "The deal will boost N. Korean monitoring capabilities and is expected to greatly contribute to suppressing the North's nuclear and missile threats and provocations."

However concern continues that military cooperation with Tokyo is still premature while issues of the two countries' past remain unresolved. The speedy process of the agreement and the deal signed behind closed doors have only increased criticism. The Defense Ministry said that it has conveyed to Tokyo the Korean people's concern that the deal can pave the way for Japan's Self-Defense Forces advancing into the Korean Peninsula and the country further boosting its military power.