[INTERVIEW] Seoul-Tokyo economic security ties to deepen as NK-Russia axis grows, former Japanese spy chief says - The Korea Times

Shigeru Kitamura, CEO of Kitamura Economic Security and former secretary-general of the National Security Secretariat (NSS) of Japan, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at Haevichi Hotel & Resort Jeju in Seogwipo, Jeju Island, Wednesday. The interview was held on the sidelines of the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island — South Korea and Japan will deepen economic security ties as the bond between North Korea and Russia grows stronger, former Japanese spy chief Shigeru Kitamura said Wednesday.

"North Korea has been focusing on nuclear issues and has recently been putting efforts into building intense relations with Russia. It is the reality that Pyongyang is supplying their warheads to Russia in return for foreign currency," Kitamura said in an interview with The Korea Times on the sidelines of the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity.

"In the future, economic security between Seoul and Tokyo will be a big part in bilateral cooperation and the two countries will be able to cooperate in many forms."

Kitamura, a former secretary-general of Japan's National Security Secretariat and one of the key aides to the Abe administration, attended the forum as a speaker for a session titled "Between Collective Defense and Collective Security: Toward a New Security Architecture in East Asia."