South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has dismissed as “absurd” allegations that his minister in charge of North Korea relations disclosed classified U.S. intelligence about Pyongyang’s nuclear facilities.
Local media reports in South Korea suggest that the United States has curtailed some intelligence sharing on North Korea, partly due to Unification Minister Chung Dong-young publicly referencing a previously unconfirmed uranium enrichment site in the country.
Dispute Over Kusong Nuclear Facility Remark
Chung and his ministry have said his March comments about the facility in an area called Kusong in North Korea were based on publicly available information, including research reports.
“It’s a clear fact that the existence of the Kusong nuclear facility was widely known globally even before Chung’s public comments through various research reports and news media,” Lee said in a post on X late on Monday.
“Any claim or action based on the idea that Minister Chung ‘leaked classified information provided by the U.S.’ is wrong. I’ll be looking closely into why something as absurd as this is happening,” he said.
In response to a request for comment, the U.S. embassy in Seoul said it did not discuss details of diplomatic conversations.
Seoul’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that U.S. and South Korean intelligence authorities were maintaining close communication, including on North Korean missile launches, and that a robust intelligence-sharing system between the allies remained in place.
Intelligence-Sharing Concerns
Intelligence sharing between the allies was conducted on a mutually complementary basis, the ministry said, adding that analysis of North Korea’s ballistic missile launch on Sunday was conducted through the exchange and cross-verification of information by both sides.
The ministry also rejected an allegation raised by an opposition lawmaker calling for Chung’s dismissal, including a claim that the commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) had protested strongly to South Korea’s defence minister over the issue.
Chung told a parliamentary committee last month that North Korea had been enriching weapons-grade uranium at Kusong as well as in previously confirmed or suspected sites in Yongbyon and Kangson.
The Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday that the U.S. had limited sharing of some intelligence gathered from spy satellites.
The two countries have a defence treaty and the U.S. has a major military presence in South Korea, including 28,500 troops.
(With inputs from Reuters)
