NIS Excluded From North Korea Response Meeting 'at U.S. Request'... S. Korea-U.S. Cooperation Strained?

[Anchor]

It has been reported that South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) was unable to attend a trilateral meeting among South Korea, the United States, and Japan in June to counter North Korean cyber threats at the request of the U.S. The NIS stated that "while there was some misunderstanding, it is already a thing of the past." Concerns are rising that cooperation between the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the U.S. may be facing serious friction.

Kim Jeongyun reports.

[Reporter]

Following the agreement reached at the Camp David summit in the United States in August 2023, South Korea, the U.S., and Japan have held working group meetings once or twice a year to respond to North Korean cyber threats.

Around 60 participants, including officials from the foreign ministries and relevant cyber agencies of the three nations, attended the fifth meeting held in Washington in June.

The number of participants dropped by around 10 compared to the previous meeting, and it was learned that South Korea's NIS, which has been in charge of cyber responses against North Korea, was unable to attend due to a request from the U.S. side.

The NIS stated, "While there was some misunderstanding several months ago, it is already a thing of the past," which is interpreted as an indirect acknowledgment of the situation.

However, the NIS actively pushed back against rumors, clarifying that media reports claiming Director Lee Jong-suk was denied a visit to North Korea monitoring agencies in the U.S. in March, as well as rumors that an NIS agent investigating Coupang was placed on a U.S. entry restriction list, are not true.

The NIS strongly refuted the allegations, characterizing such reports as "attempts to shake the NIS" and stating that it "expresses serious concern."

While friction between the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the U.S. can occur, the situation is considered quite unusual in that signs of conflict have surfaced publicly.

Ever since Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young singled out Kusong City in North Pyongan Province as North Korea's third nuclear facility in March of this year, the U.S. has continued to partially restrict intelligence sharing with South Korea.

[Jin Young-seung / Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: While some parts are restricted, I believe the best course is for this situation to be resolved quickly, and we are making efforts toward that end.]

A ruling party official told SBS, "It appears that dissatisfaction from the U.S. side began with the response of the government and the NIS to the Coupang issue."

Military authorities explained, however, that there is no problem in cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. regarding critical military intelligence related to defense readiness.

(Video by Kim Hyeon-sang | Video Editing by Park Seon-soo)

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