Reports on Wednesday quoted officials in Seoul as saying that the Republic of Korea will sign a military agreement with Japan on Friday, a move that would mark the first such pact since Tokyo's occupation of the Korean Peninsula ended in 1945.

Yonhap News Agency said the decision to sign the General Security of Military Information Agreement was made during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The pact calls for sharing intelligence about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and its nuclear and missile programs among other topics, Yonhap said.

The two countries agreed that the information will not be given to a third country or used for unintended purposes.

Seoul reportedly planned to sign the agreement in April, but it was postponed because of public opposition to a military agreement with Tokyo

An ROK foreign ministry spokesman told AFP the agreement covers the "protection of classified information" and would be signed as soon as the two countries complete domestic procedures.