South Korea, US claim leaked Pentagon documents ‘altered’
Reported distribution of classified US documents suggests that US intelligence spied on internal discussions in Seoul.
South Korea says information in an alleged leak of top-secret US documents that appear to be based on internal discussions among South Korean security officials was “false” and “altered”.
Official correspondence has circulated online in recent days that offers a month-long snapshot of the war in Ukraine, which sparked a diplomatic spat between the US and some allies.
One of the documents, which does not date, gave details of alleged internal discussions between top aides with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and suggested that Washington was pressuring Seoul to help deliver artillery shells to the US to go to Ukraine. to send.
Such a move would go against South Korea’s long-standing policy of not exporting weapons to countries at war.
The US would have been spying on South Korea, one of its main allies, if the information in the document was correct.
Yoon’s office said in a statement that suspicions that Seoul was being monitored are “completely false” and that any attempt to shake its alliance with the US is an act that “endangers national interests”.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had telephone conversations with his South Korean counterpart on Tuesday, in which both sides agreed that much of the document was fabricated, but did not specify which parts were not true.
South Korea’s defense ministry said the meeting had been requested by Austin, who pledged to communicate closely with South Korea on the matter.
Shared intelligence
The revelation comes days before a diplomatic visit to the US by South Korea’s deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo, who said the latest controversy will not affect the countries’ alliance.
“The US is the country with the world’s best intelligence capabilities and ever since [Yoon’s] At the inauguration, we shared information in almost every sector,” Kim told reporters.
Yoon will also meet with US President Joe Biden in Washington on April 26.
Some lawmakers from South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party on Monday expressed “strong regret” over the alleged surveillance, calling it a clear violation of national sovereignty and a major security concern for the Yoon administration.
Several additional unverified leaked documents suggest the US was spying on other friendly nations, including Israel.