Information: Ties Tokyo and Seoul

information: Seoul said it was no longer in its national interest to continue sharing confidential information with its neighbour during a sharp deterioration in ties, according to Asahi Shimbun. Tokyo strongly protested against the move, and urged Seoul to reconsider.WHY IS IT IMPORTANT Japan's Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya said the pact was vital for regional security, pointing in particular to the nuclear and missile threat from North Korea. ; During the series of North Korean missile launches, there was a thorough and careful exchange of information between both sides, Mr Iwaya told reporters yesterday. Here are five things to know about the decision.WHAT HAPPENED To general surprise, South Korea announced late on Thursday that it would not renew a pact with Japan to share military intelligence, called the General Security of Military Information Agreement. ; Under the pact, originally signed in 2016, the two US allies directly share military secrets, particularly over North Korea's nuclear and missile capacity. Scrapping the pact would only make bilateral defence cooperation harder, he said. He noted that Seoul's move came just as North Korea has ramped up tests of short-range ballistic missiles . Some analysts have played down the move, however, noting that the United States previously coordinated the flow of sensitive information between the pair, and this practice would simply continue.WHAT IS THE REGIONAL AND GLOBAL IMPACT South Korea's decision shows that trust between the two countries has crumbled, the left-leaning Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun said, adding that it would only benefit Washington's regional rivals. Mr Tobias Harris, an analyst at the Teneo consultancy, said that without the agreement, both militaries may find it more difficult to track missile launches from the regime in Pyongyang. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.