[Anchor]

The U.S. Trump administration has told SBS that it expects South Korea to uphold the standards of the South Korea-U.S. alliance in the fields of intelligence and counterintelligence. This marks the first public message to emerge amid revealed cracks in South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation, such as the U.S. excluding South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) from a meeting on responding to North Korean hacking.

This is Jeon Byeong-nam reporting from Washington.

[Reporter]

Regarding the controversy over cracks in South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation, the Donald Trump administration has emphasized compliance with alliance standards on intelligence and counterintelligence matters.

A high-ranking official in the Trump administration told SBS in response to an inquiry about the current state of intelligence cooperation between South Korea and the U.S., "We expect South Korea to adhere to the standards of our decades-old bilateral alliance," adding, "Particularly regarding intelligence and counterintelligence matters."

A high-ranking State Department official also replied to SBS, saying, "We expect all allies to handle intelligence and counterintelligence matters appropriately."

Although specific issues were not pointed out, this is interpreted as essentially expressing dissatisfaction with the South Korean government and the NIS regarding their handling of intelligence and counterintelligence affairs.

In particular, given that strong expressions were used in diplomatic terms, it is also analyzed as containing a warning-style message.

Previously, the NIS was unable to attend the 5th South Korea-U.S.-Japan diplomatic working-group meeting on countering North Korean cyber threats, held in Washington in June, due to a U.S. request.

In response, the NIS stated, "There were some misunderstandings several months ago, but it is already in the past," and added, "There are currently no misunderstandings between the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the U.S."

Friction over intelligence sharing between South Korea and the U.S. flared up in earnest after then-Unification Minister Chung Dong-young mentioned the existence of a uranium enrichment facility in Kusong, North Pyongan Province, at the National Assembly in March.

The U.S. side reportedly objected, claiming that Minister Chung had disclosed sensitive information collected by the U.S., and subsequently restricted some North Korea-related intelligence provided to South Korea.

[Jin Young-seung / Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (October 8): Some is restricted, but as a result, I think the best thing is for this situation to be resolved quickly, and I am making efforts toward that.]

As the U.S. position, which differs in tone from the NIS's assertion that "misunderstandings have been resolved," has emerged, the controversy is not expected to subside easily.

(Camera Reporter: Oh Jung-shik | Video Editor: Choi Jin-hwa | Designer: Kim Ye-ji)