On Friday, at the eleventh hour, the South Korean government determined that it would “conditionally” suspend the expiration of the bilateral Japan-South Korea General Security of Military Information Agreement, known as GSOMIA.

The step was accompanied by a face-saving opening for talks with Japan on a range of issues; Seoul is also staying a complaint against Japan at the World Trade Organization.

The 2016 GSOMIA between the two countries was, for a while, lurching toward termination, after Seoul decided to bring the pact under review amid a broader bilateral dispute between the two countries that escalated