Presidential office says Korea-US alliance still strong amid spying fiasco
The office of President Yoon Suk-yeol said Monday it would wait for an investigation underway by the Pentagon and the US Justice Department over classified documents leaked to the media amid intensifying controversy over US agencies wiretapping officials at its office in Seoul.
Stressing it has no doubt in the alliance, the office said it would also review measures to enhance its security.
“We will be informed by the United States about the investigation results. Verifying the accuracy of the reports should come first,” a senior official from the presidential office told The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity.
“The South Korea-US relationship was not fundamentally shaken and the alliance is still strong, and preparation is on the way for the upcoming summit with US President Joe Biden."
The presidential office said on Monday in a written statement that South Korea's deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo will visit Washington on Tuesday for five days and will meet with US administration officials to discuss preparations for the president’s successful state visit. They are to exchange views on various issues, including cooperation on North Korea, economic security and regional security.
The New York Times reported on Saturday that a significant amount of classified documents from the US Department of Defense were leaked on social media. At least two of the documents contained internal discussions of the Korean government about whether to provide US artillery shells for use in Ukraine, violating Seoul’s policy on providing lethal aid. Korean officials expressed concerns that US President Joe Biden could call on and pressure Seoul to deliver the goods.
The New York Times reported that a discussion on the Korean government's support for ammunition to Ukraine was included among the details of the US wiretapping report.
However, the presidential office said there is “no change” in the country’s position that it would not support lethal weapons to Ukraine. Defense Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-gyu also said Monday, “There has been no change in the existing position of our Ministry of Defense regarding Ukraine.”
The opposition party, meanwhile, urged the president to bring up the spying allegations suggested by the leak of what appears to be classified Pentagon documents at a summit with his US counterpart.
In a joint statement, Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers on the National Assembly’s national defence, foreign affairs and intelligence committees characterized the alleged spying as “the US violation of South Korea’s national sovereignty” and “illegal espionage activities.”
“It is regrettable that ahead of the head of the state visit to the US such an event has transpired,” said the party's Rep. Kim Byung-joo in a press conference, calling Yoon’s official response to the leak “lenient.”
“We strongly urge that the presidential office take steps to ensure there is no recurrence,” he said.
One of the leaked classified US documents, the authenticity of which has not yet been verified, showed details of private conversations between two top South Korean officials about the US push for Seoul to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine.
Democratic Party Rep. Kim Eui-kyeom, who was previously spokesperson for the Moon Jae-in administration, argued that based on what is revealed so far he believed it was a “very intentional and premeditated act of eavesdropping.”
“I don’t think it was the phones that were being wiretapped. I think it was somewhere in the presidential office, some conference room perhaps, that had been accessed,” he said.
He added that Yoon should add a discussion of the alleged spying to the agenda at his summit with Biden.
“If Yoon is a president of a sovereign country, he should convey a strong, clear protest,” he said.
Rep. Youn Kun-young, who was the director of state affairs planning and monitoring for Moon, said the leak revealed “a significant loophole in national security.”
He claimed that Yoon relocating his office out of Cheong Wa Dae “likely allowed the presidential office, the centre of power and national security, to be spied on.”
“The national security council meetings are said to have been exposed,” he said, arguing that “the very front lines of the country’s national security” appeared to be lacking anti-spying infrastructure as a result of the relocation.
The Korea Herald
Asia News Network
