On Tuesday, South Korea called a reportedly leaked U.S. classified paper based on private deliberations among top security officials “untrue” and “altered.”
The U.S. and certain allies have clashed over social media posts of a month-old partial picture of the Ukrainian battle.
One of the documents included South Korean officials’ internal conversations regarding U.S. pressure on Seoul to give weapons to Ukraine, suggesting the U.S. was snooping on one of its most important allies and eliciting censure from the Asian nation’s politicians.
The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stated that allegations his office in Seoul was monitored are “utterly incorrect” and that any attempt to disrupt its relationship with the U.S. is “compromising national interest.”
Yoon’s office reported that U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart concurred that most of the dossier about South Korea was falsified during Tuesday’s phone call.
The document’s untruths were not specified.
According to South Korea’s defense ministry, the Pentagon chief clarified recent media reports on the leak and pledged to closely engage with South Korea during the phone call at Austin’s request.
The news comes weeks before Yoon meets with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on April 26.
On Monday, MPs from South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party voiced “deep sorrow” over the suspected spying, calling it a breach of national sovereignty and a grave security failure of the Yoon government.
Before he left for Washington before Yoon’s visit, South Korea’s Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Tae-hyo insisted the recent incident would not affect the relationship.
“After (Yoon’s) administration, we have shared intelligence in practically every field,” Kim told reporters.
The updated paper said South Korea would sell artillery rounds to the U.S. military to replenish its stocks. Nevertheless, top South Korean officials feared the U.S. might redirect them to Ukraine.
South Korea cannot transfer weapons to Ukraine because its legislation bans them.
Reuters hasn’t confirmed the papers. However, U.S. authorities claim certain Ukrainian battlefield mortality counts were changed to understate Russian casualties.
