SKorea to sign trilateral intelligence pact with US, Japan to cope with North Korea threats

A boy stands by a North Korea's mock Scud-B missile, left and other South Korean missiles displayed at Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014. South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will sign their first-ever trilateral intelligence-sharing pact next week to better cope with North Korea's increasing nuclear and missile threats, Seoul officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (The Associated Press)

A North Korea's mock Scud-B missile, center, and other South Korean missiles are display at Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014. South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will sign their first-ever trilateral intelligence-sharing pact next week to better cope with North Korea's increasing nuclear and missile threats, Seoul officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (The Associated Press)

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea says it'll sign a trilateral intelligence-sharing pact with the U.S. and Japan next week to better cope with North Korea's increasing nuclear and missile threats.

The U.S. has separate, bilateral intelligence-sharing agreements with South Korea and Japan, both American allies which are hosts to tens of thousands of American troops.

But Seoul and Japan don't have such bilateral pacts amid long-running history disputes stemming from Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

In 2012, the two almost forged their first-ever intelligence-sharing pact but its signing was scrapped at the last minute due to backlash in South Korea.

Seoul's Defense Ministry said Friday that South Korea and Japan would share intelligence on the North's nuclear and missile programs via the U.S. under the agreement.