Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
S. Korea aware of five nuclear facilities in NK
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pose during a summit at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi in the Vietnamese capital on Feb. 28. Both sides failed to reach any consensus during their second meeting. / Yonhap
By Lee Min-hyung
By Lee Min-hyung
South Korea was apparently aware of the existence of five nuclear sites in North Korea after being informed of them by U.S. intelligence authorities, sources from the National Assembly said Wednesday.
The exact number of the North's nuclear facilities was disclosed publicly when U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he demanded the closure of “five nuclear sites” during a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi last February.
The South Korean government refused to immediately confirm this, prompting concerns here about a possible rift in the alliance between Seoul and Washington. Some conservative lawmakers claimed the U.S. is bypassing South Korea in sharing key information about North Korea.
However, members of the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee said the South's National Intelligence Service (NIS) was already aware of the North's five nuclear sites Trump mentioned.
“[Intelligence authorities from] Seoul and Washington are sharing information on the North's nuclear facilities,” a committee member said.
The government has refused to disclose details over the five sites, as it believes it is inappropriate for Seoul to make comments on the dialogue agenda between Trump and Kim, sources said.
On Tuesday, Cheong Wa Dae said it was paying sharp attention to the North's security situation.
“It is not proper for us to confirm such an exchange made during the meeting between leaders from the U.S. and the North,” a spokesperson from the presidential house said.
Trump made the recent remark during a local media interview when he said that during the Hanoi summit Kim only wanted to dismantle one or two nuclear sites.
“When I left Vietnam where we had the summit, I said to Chairman Kim, and I think very importantly I said you are not ready for a deal because he wanted to get rid of one or two sites,” Trump said. “But he has five sites. I said what about the other three sites. That is no good.”
But Trump did not share additional details, such as the location of the sites.
This was the first time the U.S. mentioned the specific number of the North's nuclear facilities.
With the breakdown of the Hanoi summit, Washington and Pyongyang have since failed to resume their talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Some argue the Trump administration is seeking to shift the responsibility of the stalemated talks onto the North by making such remarks.
North Korea has yet to release any statements over Trump's recent remark, but continues to ramp up criticism of the U.S. for maintaining tight sanctions on Pyongyang.
Starting this month, the North resumed its missile tests in an apparent show of force and discontent over the deadlocked dialogue with Washington.