The United States has partly restricted the sharing of satellite intelligence on North Korea with South Korea due to remarks by Seoul’s unification minister about one of Pyongyang’s nuclear facilities, reports said Tuesday.
Chung Dong-young told South Korea’s parliament last month that North Korea was suspected of operating a uranium enrichment site — a key step in making a nuclear bomb — in the northwestern Kusong region.
Washington, South Korea’s security ally, lodged protests over Chung’s comments, saying they disclosed sensitive information from US intelligence without authorisation, according to the South’s Yonhap news agency and multiple local outlets.
It has “limited” some satellite information on the North that was previously routinely handed over to Seoul, the reports said.
The restrictions have applied “since the beginning of this month” but “(do) not significantly affect military preparedness”, an unnamed South Korean military official was quoted as saying by Yonhap on Tuesday.
“Intelligence collection and sharing regarding North Korea’s military activities are proceeding normally between South Korean and US authorities, just as before,” the official reportedly said.
Neither South Korean nor US authorities have explicitly denied that restrictions have been imposed.
United States Forces Korea (USFK), Washington’s military presence in the country, told AFP on Tuesday that it was “aware of the media articles” and had “nothing to add”.
A spokesperson for South Korea’s unification ministry said Monday that Seoul “did not receive any information” about the Kusong facility “from any other agency”.
– ‘Clear fact’ –
North Korea is known to operate uranium enrichment facilities in Yongbyon, in the north, and Kangson, near the capital Pyongyang.
Chung has come under pressure from opposition parties over the disclosure and its repercussions for ties with Washington.
He said on Monday it was “deeply regrettable” that his remarks had been interpreted as a leak of classified information, insisting that they were based on publicly available information and had been raised at his confirmation hearing in July.
President Lee Jae Myung has defended Chung, writing on X that it is a “clear fact” the existence of the Kusong facility was already widely known through academic papers and media reports.
“Any claims or actions premised on the assumption that Minister Chung leaked classified information provided by the United States are wrong,” Lee added.
South Korea explicitly denied a Yonhap report, citing an opposition lawmaker, saying that USFK Commander Xavier Brunson had lodged a protest with Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back over Chung’s remarks.
It would not have been diplomatically “appropriate” for Brunson to make such a complaint, the defence ministry said, without mentioning the reported satellite intelligence sharing curbs.
– ‘Very serious increase’ –
North Korea is subject to multiple United Nations sanctions banning its nuclear weapons development and use of ballistic missile technology, restrictions it has repeatedly flouted.
Pyongyang is showing a “very serious increase” in its ability to produce atomic weapons, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said during a visit to Seoul last week.
The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to help it fend off military threats from the North.
It is believed to gather intelligence through satellites, electronic intercepts and other means, and share it with Seoul.
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