"Problems Exist in Intelligence Cooperation"... Kang Kyung-wha Admits ROK-US 'Fissures'

[Anchor]

Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha has admitted during a parliamentary audit that there have recently been limitations in communication with the White House. She revealed that the US side officially raised issues regarding intelligence cooperation, and that US concerns have not been sufficiently resolved.

This is correspondent Lee Hanseok reporting from Washington.

[Reporter]

At the National Assembly's parliamentary audit held at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C.,

intensive questioning followed regarding the closed-door meeting between the foreign ministers of South Korea and the US held on September 18.

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon asked whether US Secretary of State Rubio stated that "trust in National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok and Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young has been damaged, so please convey the need for normalization to the President."

[Han Dong-hoon / Independent Lawmaker: Since the US cannot interfere in internal affairs, it may not have explicitly named specific individuals to be replaced, but isn't this practically an expression of the US position that it can no longer go on with this line?]

Ambassador Kang, who attended the meeting at the time, drew a line by stating that there was no mention of specific individuals, but acknowledged that there are problems in intelligence cooperation.

[Kang Kyung-wha / South Korean Ambassador to the US: There was a remark that problems exist in intelligence cooperation. I do not think the issues have been sufficiently resolved to the extent expected by the US side yet.]

Ambassador Kang also confessed to experiencing difficulties in communicating with the White House.

[Kang Kyung-wha / South Korean Ambassador to the US: I will admit that there are limitations in communication with the White House. High-level consultations to the extent I would like are, at this point, to the frustrating extent that...]

Regarding Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young's remarks on the No. 3 nuclear facility in Kusong, North Pyongan Province—which led the US side to raise the issue of intelligence leaks—Ambassador Kang stated that she accepted Minister Jeong's request and directly explained the matter to the US side.

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party countered that there is no need to unilaterally accept US concerns, stating that they must look at the structural trends of the Trump administration's foreign policy.

[Park Sung-joon / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Shaking the ROK-US alliance over a single diplomatic issue, as if it has fractured, itself stems from a misview of the broader currents of the international order.]

Suspicions were also raised that major South Korean conglomerates suspended cooperation with US defense companies due to fears of Chinese retaliation.

In response, Ambassador Kang stated that while it is difficult to confirm specifically, South Korean companies sometimes face difficulties amid US-China competition, and consultations are underway with US authorities.

(Camera filming: Oh Jung-shik, Video editing: Lee Seung-yeol)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.