U.S.: South Korea Must Uphold Alliance Principles on Intelligence and Counterintelligence

[Financial News] The U.S. government said South Korea should adhere to the existing principles of the two countries’ alliance on intelligence and counterintelligence matters, amid controversy over intelligence cooperation between the two countries.
A senior U.S. administration official said on the 9th (local time) that the United States expected South Korea to follow the alliance standards maintained for many years, in connection with intelligence cooperation between the two countries. The official was reported to have specifically referred to intelligence and counterintelligence.
However, the official did not explain which specific standards were meant or whether the United States believed South Korea had violated them.
The United States has reportedly restricted the sharing of information related to North Korea since Unification Minister Chung Dong-young publicly mentioned a uranium enrichment facility in Kusong, North Pyongan Province, North Korea, last March. The facility is said to be the site of a North Korean nuclear facility identified through U.S. intelligence assets.
Jin Young-seung, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said at a National Assembly audit on the 8th that some key information related to North Korea’s nuclear program was being restricted. He said, however, that there was no problem with the South Korean military’s readiness, and also called for the issue to be resolved promptly.
It was also recently reported that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) was excluded at the U.S. side’s request from a South Korea-U.S.-Japan working-level meeting on responding to North Korean cyber threats, held in the United States last June. The NIS says there had been some misunderstandings several months ago, but that the matter has already been resolved.
[email protected] Lee Jeong-hwa Reporter