Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Korea, US say leaked US documents were fabricated
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By Nam Hyun-woo
Presidential office claims CIA wiretapping allegation is 'untrue'
By Nam Hyun-woo
The presidential office described allegations of U.S. intelligence services spying on high-ranking Korean government officials as being “groundless and untrue,” Tuesday, while Seoul and Washington agreed that “some of the leaked U.S. documents were fabricated.”
Suspicions have been raised concerning the revelation of purported Pentagon documents leaked online earlier this week.
“Unlike the past when various offices of the presidential secretaries were scattered in the Cheong Wa Dae compound, the Yongsan presidential office maintains ironclad security and the suspicion that the office was being eavesdropped is a groundless and false accusation,” the office said in a statement.
Cheong Wa Dae is the former presidential compound and Yoon relocated the presidential office to Yongsan District, Seoul, when he took office last year.
The statement added that the two countries' defense chiefs spoke by phone and agreed on the assessment that much of the information contained in the leaked documents was fabricated, adding that the two countries will deepen their mutual trust and cooperation.
First Deputy Director of National Security Kim Tae-hyo arrives at Incheon International Airport, Tuesday, to depart for the United States to consult with counterparts for arranging President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to Washington later this month. Yonhap
“Korea and the United States agreed that most of the leaked information was fabricated” and “since this is a matter of the U.S., its authorities will begin investigating what happened and who's behind this and it will take time (for Washington to come up with results),” First Deputy Director of National Security Kim Tae-hyo said before leaving for Washington, D.C., Tuesday.
The comments came after news reports said that the classified military and intelligence documents that were leaked online in recent weeks contain internal discussions of Korean presidential secretaries on whether to provide the U.S. with artillery shells to be used in Ukraine, violating Seoul's policy of not providing lethal weapons.
U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said the U.S. is “taking this (the documents leak) very, very seriously” and “there is no excuse for these kinds of documents to be in the public domain.”
Although the White House said it has no excuse for the leak, the Korean presidential office said this does not mean that the U.S. is acknowledging that it wiretapped Korean officials.
“The revelation itself becomes a controversy and there are different opinions on whether those documents are valid or not, while the U.S. is investigating that,” an official at the presidential office said. “After checking the facts ― whether those documents were doctored or not ― then there should be measures.”
Kirby also said, “We know that some of them have been doctored,” but added that he “won't speak to the validity of all the documents.”
Despite the Korean presidential office's denial, doubts are still lingering regarding the explanation and Seoul's response to Washington.
The presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul / Courtesy of presidential office
Wi Sung-lac, a former Korean ambassador to Russia and ex-chief nuclear envoy to the six-party talks, said it is possible for the U.S. to wiretap the Korean presidential office and it is also likely that some of the documents were doctored, given the two countries' announcements. But he added that what's important is where this information came from in the first place.
“In the world of intelligence, this happens all the time and it is a shadowy world where nobody confirms, disavows or discusses the information,” Wi told The Korea Times.
“And then there is the world of diplomacy, which can be described as the world of light. If a matter of the shadowy world comes to light, it becomes a diplomatic matter, which requires due procedures such as confirmation, investigation and apologies if necessary. The matter is no longer a subject of the so-called 'neither confirm nor deny.'”
Wi's comments came amid criticism from Korea's main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) that the Yoon administration is siding with Washington, because of the president's scheduled state visit to the U.S., even though Korea's sovereignty was infringed by U.S. intelligence.
While taking a cautious stance, the Korean presidential office is striving to dismiss the opposition's criticism that presidential security was breached due to Yoon's decision to relocate the presidential office to the current location last year.
“The DPK is striving to incite the public with false negative suspicions, such as the relocation of the presidential office, without any intention of determining the truth,” the presidential office said in a statement. ”This is a self-harming act and a "violation of national interests undermining the South Korea-US alliance amid Pyongyang's relentless provocations and nuclear threats.”
Wi said the presidential office seems to be handling the issue “in a mentality of partisan confrontation” and the office should see through the wiretapping issue itself in order to address the situation.
“Through proper consultations with the U.S., the office has to clearly determine the facts and verify whether there was an act of intelligence-gathering by interception of signals as stated in the documents,” the former ambassador said.
“Even if spying activities are routine in the world of intelligence, it becomes a diplomatic issue when it is under the public light, and there are due procedures which the country should follow.”