South Korea spy agency denies U.S. limited North Korea intelligence to missiles
South Korea's National Intelligence Service denied a report that Washington restricted intelligence sharing with Seoul to North Korean missile information, saying cooperation continues in many areas.
The denial came amid concerns over apparent friction in bilateral intelligence cooperation after the disclosure of a North Korean uranium enrichment facility. In March, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young referred during a parliamentary session to North Korea's Kusong region as one of the sites housing a uranium enrichment facility, a disclosure that reportedly prompted Washington to restrict Seoul's access to some intelligence related to North Korea.
On Thursday, the NIS acknowledged that it had been excluded from a June trilateral meeting with Washington and Tokyo on North Korean cyberthreats. A senior U.S. official said Friday that Washington expects Seoul to "uphold" the standards of their decadeslong alliance.
Still, the spy agency said Sunday that South Korea and the U.S. continue to share intelligence in various areas. "We make it clear once again that, aside from some information that led to the intelligence-sharing restrictions already acknowledged by our government, South Korea and the United States are actively cooperating across a wide range of areas, including North Korea's missiles, conventional military capabilities and developments in the North, as well as international relations, cybersecurity and counterintelligence," the NIS said in a press release.
The agency also denied the report's claim that the overall volume of intelligence shared by Washington has declined. "Despite the restrictions on intelligence sharing in certain areas mentioned earlier, the total volume of intelligence provided by the U.S. has not been reduced," it said. "Intelligence sharing between South Korea and the U.S. remains reciprocal and mutually beneficial in many areas."