[Anchor]

Although Unification Minister Chung Dong-young met with reporters today (October 12) and stated that "there is absolutely no problem with the South Korea-U.S. alliance," the U.S. government two days ago (October 10) officially pointed to matters concerning "intelligence" and "counterintelligence" while mentioning "compliance with alliance standards." What exactly are the "intelligence" and "counterintelligence" issues singled out by the United States? According to our reporting, the "intelligence" issue raised by the U.S. is that SI—or Special Intelligence—provided by the South Korean military has recently decreased significantly, while the "counterintelligence" grievance stems from South Korea's inadequate response to Chinese nationals spying on U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) bases.

Senior Defense Reporter Kim Tae-hun reports exclusively.

[Reporter]

Last month (September), the Pyeongtaek Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office indicted two Chinese nationals under detention on charges of wiretapping communications between military aircraft and air traffic control towers at U.S. Air Force and Navy bases in Busan, Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province.

One of the indicted Chinese nationals is a retired soldier who served for 40 years in the Chinese People's Liberation Army's interception unit.

Incidents in which Chinese nationals are caught photographing internal facilities and military assets at U.S. Air Force and Navy bases in South Korea also occur frequently.

A senior government official told SBS, "While Chinese spying activities targeting USFK bases are on the rise, our response has been lacking."

The official lamented, "In particular, with the dissolution of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, the military's counterintelligence functions and personnel have been reduced, making it difficult to detect Chinese spying activities targeting USFK bases in a timely manner, and we have been unable to accommodate requests from the U.S. side to step up counterintelligence operations against Chinese nationals."

This indicates that the "counterintelligence" issue cited by the U.S. government in connection with "compliance with alliance standards" refers directly to South Korea's counterintelligence response to Chinese nationals spying on USFK bases.

The "intelligence" issue regarding compliance with alliance standards is understood to be linked to the activities of units subordinate to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

A key military official stated, "South Korea-U.S. intelligence sharing is a reciprocal relationship of give and take, and the U.S. side particularly values North Korea-related SI—special intelligence obtained by analyzing communications intercepts and signals intelligence—produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency's 777 Command and Defense Intelligence Command."

"However, under the current administration, units under the Defense Intelligence Agency have seen their organization and functions shrink due to the aftermath of martial law and considerations regarding inter-Korean relations, leading to a decrease in the volume of North Korea-related SI," the official added. "As a result, the amount of SI provided to the U.S. side has declined, and the U.S. side is complaining about this."

Because counterintelligence and SI capabilities cannot be restored in a short period of time, the controversy surrounding cracks in South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation is expected to persist for some time.

Video by Kim Hyun-sang | Video Editing by Jeong Seong-hoon | Graphics by Han Heung-soo