Neighbours Japan and South Korea signed a military intelligence-sharing agreement on 23 November.
The impetus for this is North Korea’s belligerent ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programme.
Labelled the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), it will enable the two countries to pool intelligence data.
GSOMIA went into immediate effect, opening up a channel to exchange sensitive information on things such as Pyongyang’s intent to put nuclear warheads on its arsenal of missiles.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida was quoted as saying, ‘Cooperation between Japan and South Korea is becoming more important than ever in the security sphere as North