Korean Defense Ministry denies security breach after U.S. spying report

The Ministry of National Defense has denied allegations of security breaches at the ministry’s headquarters located next to the presidential office.

This follows reports that U.S. intelligence authorities eavesdropped on Korea’s internal deliberations over supplying arms to Ukraine.

Jeon Ha-gyu, a spokesperson for the ministry, said in a briefing Monday that “sufficient measures have been taken to prevent eavesdropping and wiretapping at the Defense Ministry and Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) buildings.”

He also said that there has been “no change in the Defense Ministry’s existing position regarding Ukraine,” adding that the government’s policy of not providing lethal arms to Ukraine remains the same.

The statement was a response to the growing controversy surrounding a report by the New York Times over the weekend that the CIA has spied on the Korean government’s communications regarding military aid to Ukraine.

“We plan to request appropriate action from the U.S. side if necessary after we have properly grasped the situation in both countries,” a presidential official told reporters Monday regarding Seoul’s response to the eavesdropping reports.

“This process will happen based on the relationship of trust formed between the Korea-U.S. alliance.”

The U.S. Justice Department and Pentagon said they are investigating the apparent online leak of sensitive classified documents, some of them labeled “top secret,” and confirming their veracity.

U.S. officials have indicated some appear to be real, though some may have been altered.

The New York Times reported Saturday that leaked classified U.S. intelligence documents shared on social media revealed that the United States was spying not only on Russia but also on its allies, including South Korea and Israel.

It reported that at least two discussions in the documents posted online included “South Korea’s internal debates about whether to give the U.S. artillery shells for use in Ukraine, violating Seoul’s policy on providing lethal aid.”

The information was reportedly obtained from “a signals intelligence report.”

Sigint, or signals intelligence, is a term that intelligence agencies use for intercepted communications, ranging from phone calls to electronic messages.

The latest test in the Korea-U.S. alliance comes ahead of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the United States for a bilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden later this month.

According to the report, the leaked documents said as a key U.S. ally, Seoul was torn between Washington’s pressure to help supply ammunition to Ukraine and its official policy of not providing lethal weapons to countries at war.

In particular, Korean presidential aides were described as worried that Biden would call Yoon to press him on the issue.

The presidential office said in an initial response Sunday that Seoul will “hold necessary consultations” with Washington on the issues raised in the report and deliberate on a response “after reviewing past precedents and cases in other countries.”

A presidential official reiterated to reporters that there was “no change in the government’s basic stance on Ukraine,” indicating Korea maintains its position that it will focus on providing humanitarian aid rather than lethal weapons.

On Monday, the liberal Democratic Party (DP) urged the presidential office to immediately demand “clear information” from Washington on the eavesdropping reports, which, if true, is a “clear infringement” of Korea’s sovereignty.

“Korea is a sovereign country and in an alliance with the United States,” DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung said in a supreme council meeting. “The core value of the alliance is mutual respect. It is absurd that a country’s presidential office was penetrated by wiretapping, and it is also difficult to comprehend with common sense the act of eavesdropping on an ally’s presidential office.”

Park Hong-keun, DP’s floor leader, said that if the reports are true, “it would be an act that can never be tolerated between allies of 70 years, an infringement of sovereignty and diplomatic foul play that directly breaches bilateral trust.”

DP lawmakers also questioned whether security had been compromised in the process of a rushed relocation of the presidential office from the Blue House to the Defense Ministry compound in Yongsan, central Seoul, last May. The relocation was the fulfillment of Yoon’s campaign pledge.

Lawmakers of the parliamentary defense, foreign affairs and intelligence committees, in a press conference at the National Assembly on Monday, said that the potential breach in security may also be linked to the remodeling work done in a short period of time. They also noted that since the presidential office is located right next to the U.S. Forces Korea base in Yongsan, it could be more vulnerable to wiretapping and that counterintelligence and security measures may have been weak as well.

In response to the DP’s allegations, a presidential official said Monday, “The National Security Council’s security and safety are stronger at Yongsan than in the Blue House.”

The official noted that location-wise, the underground bunker is better positioned at the Yongsan presidential office than at the Blue House compound and that no security lapses were made related to the move.

The official also noted that the eavesdropping reports are not “confirmed facts” and that the government is watching the situation, noting that other countries the U.S. reportedly spied on include Israel, France, Britain and Turkey.

“Most of the documents allegedly leaked are related to the Russia-Ukraine war,” the official said. “The possibility that some of the leaked data may have been modified or manipulated has been raised in the United States. And the possibility that a certain force may have intervened intentionally can’t be ruled out.”

He noted that if there is any entity “trying to shake the alliance by exaggerating or distorting this incident ahead of the Korea-U.S. summit, it will be met by resistance from many people.”

However, the official didn’t confirm whether the matter was verified with the Korean officials named in the documents, including then-National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han, saying he could “not confirm diplomatic or intelligence issues,” only noting that effort is being made by both countries to confirm the truth.

On Sunday, the New York Times reported that when Seoul agreed to sell artillery shells to help Washington replenish its stockpiles late last year, it insisted that their “end user” should be the U.S. military but that top Korean presidential aides were worried that the United States would divert them to Ukraine.

Lee Moon-hee, then-presidential secretary for foreign affairs, told his boss, then national security chief Kim, that the South Korean government “was mired in concerns that the U.S. would not be the end user if South Korea were to comply with a U.S. request for ammunition,” according to leaked Pentagon documents.

Lee stressed that Korea was unprepared for a call between the presidents without a clear position on the issue, as South Korea could not violate its own policy against supplying lethal aid, according to a document.

Lee said that Im Ki-hun, presidential secretary for national defense, had promised to come up with a final stance by March 2. But Kim had been worried that if the announcement of Yoon’s state visit to Washington coincided with an announcement of Seoul’s change in its stance on providing lethal aid to Ukraine, “the public would think the two had been done as a trade,” according to the report.

Kim instead suggested selling 330,000 rounds of 155-millimeter artillery shells to Poland, according to the document, and Lee agreed that the sale was possible but said that Korea would need to “verify what Poland would do” with the ammunition.

Yoon’s state visit to the United States for a bilateral summit with Biden on April 26 was announced on March 7.

Last month, both Lee and Kim were abruptly replaced, prompting much speculation on the reasons for their departure, as a reshuffling of key security and foreign affairs officials ahead of major presidential overseas trips is unusual.

Starting Tuesday, Kim Tae-hyo, the deputy national security adviser, will be making a five-day trip to Washington, the presidential office said Monday, to exchange opinions with U.S. officials on issues and consultations on preparations for Yoon’s upcoming state visit to the United States, North Korea, economic security and other regional and global matters. The eavesdropping issue could come up during the talks.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]