Leaked US intelligence documents suggesting that Washington spied on South Korea have put the country’s president in a delicate situation ahead of a state visit to the US, the first such trip by a South Korean leader in 12 years.
The documents contain purportedly private conversations between senior South Korean officials about Ukraine, indicating that Washington might have conducted surveillance on a key Asian ally even as the two nations publicly vowed to reinforce their alliance.
Since taking office last year, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has put a bolstered military partnership with the US at the heart of his foreign policy to address intensifying North Korean nuclear threats and other challenges.
The April 26 summit with US President Joe Biden is seen as crucial to winning a stronger US security commitment, and resolving grievances over the Biden administration’s economic and technology policies.
The leaked documents were posted online as part of a major US intelligence breach. The papers viewed by The Associated Press indicate that South Korea’s National Security Council (NSC) “grappled” with the US early last month over a US request to provide artillery ammunition to Ukraine.
The documents, which cited a signals intelligence report, said then-NSC director Kim Sung-han suggested the possibility of selling the 330,000 rounds of 155mm munitions to Poland, since getting the ammunition to Ukraine quickly was the US’ ultimate goal.
South Korea, a growing arms exporter, has a policy of not supplying weapons to countries at war. It has not provided arms directly to Ukraine, although it has shipped humanitarian aid and joined US-led economic sanctions against Russia.
Yoon’s government said it discussed the leaked papers with the US and they agreed that “a considerable number” of the documents were fabricated.
The South Korean government avoided any public complaints about the US and did not specify which documents were faked.
“There’s no indication that the US, which is our ally, conducted [eavesdropping] on us with malicious intent,” South Korean Deputy National Security Director Kim Tae-hyo told reporters on Tuesday at Dulles Airport near Washington at the start of a trip aimed at preparing for the summit.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Yoon government’s stance invited criticism from liberal rivals, who called on the government to lodge strong protests with the US.
They also suspected what they call Yoon’s hasty relocation of his presidential office to a South Koran Ministry of National Defense compound in central Seoul might have left the office vulnerable to wiretapping.
“As a sovereign nation, we must sternly respond to the spying of state secrets, even if it was committed by an ally” with whom South Korea has “bonded over blood,” said Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party.
In an official statement, Yoon’s office said it maintains tight security, including anti-eavesdropping systems.
It called the opposition party’s attempts to link the office relocation to the spying allegation “diplomatic suicidal acts” that shake South Korea’s national interests and its alliance with the US.
The situation is unlikely to threaten the country’s alliance with the US that was forged during the 1950-1953 Korean War, many experts say.
“No big damage is expected on the Korea-US alliance, as it seems both governments share the view that they would focus on the alliance, more concretely on a successful state visit by Yoon,” said Bong Young-shik, an expert at Seoul’s Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies.
If Yoon returns with some achievements, South Koreans would conclude that he put up with the spying allegations “because bigger matters were at stake,” Bong said.
However, if the visit amounts to a “pomp-only trip,” people could question whether South Korea “made lots of concessions.”
One possible achievement for Yoon would be if South Korea takes on a role in the management of US nuclear weapons in the face of North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal.
Other wins would be securing US benefits for major South Korean businesses involved in the making of electric vehicles and easing US restrictions on technology exports to China, which has been a major manufacturing base for South Korean chipmakers.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS