A former diplomat who advises the South Korean ruling party's presidential nominee, Lee Jae-myung, has expressed an eagerness to strengthen security cooperation with Japan and the United States through the use of Seoul's military-intelligence sharing agreement with Tokyo.

Wi Sung-lac's remarks, made during an interview in Seoul this week, are a departure from the policy of current President Moon Jae-in's administration, which has made it clear that South Korea could scrap the bilateral agreement anytime depending on how already testy South Korea-Japan ties fare.

Wi, who serves as the chairman of a foreign affairs committee set up in the Lee campaign within the Democratic Party, said the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) represents a meaningful stepping stone for security cooperation between the two countries.