South Korea says leaked US intel document ‘untrue’, amid spying allegations

SEOUL (Reuters) – The South Korean government said on Monday that information contained in allegedly leaked classified US documents was “false” and “falsified”.

Several documents have recently been posted on social media, providing a partial snapshot of the month before the war in Ukraine, sparking a diplomatic dispute between the United States and some of its allies.

One of the documents details internal talks between South Korean officials about the United States’ pressure on South Korea to help supply Ukraine with arms, arguing that the United States is one of its most important allies. , which has prompted criticism from the Asian nation of South Korea. MP.

South Korea’s presidential office Yoon Suk-yeol said in a statement that the suspicion that Seoul’s presidential office was being monitored was “totally false” and that any attempt to undermine its alliance with the United States would “damage national interests.” ‘ said it was an act.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a telephone call with South Korea’s defense secretary on Tuesday, during which both sides agreed that many of the documents concerning South Korea were fabricated, according to Yoon’s office. Stated.

I didn’t elaborate on which parts of the document were not true.

South Korea’s defense ministry said in a telephone conversation conducted at Austin’s request that the Pentagon secretary explained recent media reports about the leak and pledged to maintain close contact with South Korea on the matter. .

The revelation came just weeks before Yoon was scheduled to meet with 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 grave security failure of the Yoon administration. Stated.

South Korea’s deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo said the latest controversy would not affect South Korea’s alliance with the United States as he left for Washington ahead of Yoon’s visit.

“The United States is the country with the best intelligence capacity in the world, and since (Yoon’s) took office, almost all departments have shared intelligence,” Kim told reporters.

The seemingly undated document said South Korea had agreed to sell artillery ammunition to help replenish U.S. stockpiles, arguing that the “end user” should be the U.S. military. Internally, South Korean officials worried that the United States would lure them to Ukraine.

South Korea has said its law prohibits the supply of arms to countries in conflict, meaning it cannot send weapons to Ukraine.

Reuters has not independently verified the authenticity of the documents. U.S. officials said some estimates of battlefield casualties from Ukraine appeared to have been altered to underestimate Russian losses.

Reported by Soo-hyang Choi. Edited by Muralikumar Anantharaman

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