Seoul to study leaked US documents

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Seoul will study the leaked U.S. diplomatic documents after receiving them from the U.S. government, a government official said Thursday. But, he added that the government found out that there were no elements that can hurt national security.

The reaction came days after a set of memos involving sensitive information on North Korea and South Korea’s diplomacy, which was compiled by U.S. embassies around the world and reported to Washington, made the headlines in local media.

Some of the elements embarrassed the government as the frank talks, conversations and description of Chinese officials between high-ranking government officials and their U.S. counterparts were disclosed. For example, a high-ranking South Korean official was quoted as describing a Chinese official as incompetent. The material also included information on the North Korean leader, his health and the leadership succession there.

In an interview, a government official said on condition of anonymity that there were no detrimental elements having potential to put national security at risk, although some were embarrassing.

“Given the content disclosed by the media, it is true that there are elements that made us feel uncomfortable. But so far, we found no such elements that can pose a grave threat to the national security,” he was quoted as saying.

Seoul will reportedly ask the U.S. government to hand over some 2,000 items in the first place to study them closely. It plans to look closely into the confidential documents.