Even the ambassador to the United States voices frustration··· Kang Kyung-wha “Issues in intelligence cooperation are not fully resolved··· acknowledges limits in communication with the White House” - 경향신문

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As the Donald Trump administration has publicly displayed distrust toward the intelligence chain of command in the South Korean government, a claim was raised at the National Assembly inspection of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United States that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had already officially brought up this issue during last month's ROK-U.S. foreign ministers meeting. Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha voiced frustration, saying that “intelligence cooperation between South Korea and the United States is the most difficult pending issue” and that “there are limits to communication with the White House.”

However, she drew a line regarding the claim that the United States had directly taken issue with specific individuals such as National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok and Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young.

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's inspection of the embassy in Washington on the 12th (local time), asked Ambassador Kang, “According to what I have ascertained, on the 18th of last month Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when holding talks with Minister Cho Hyun of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, ‘trust in the leadership of the Republic of Korea intelligence line has been damaged, and please convey to President Lee Jae Myung the request to normalize it.’ He also requested that information provided by the U.S. government not be leaked any further. Is that accurate?”

Earlier, a senior Trump administration official stated on the 9th, “We expect South Korea to adhere to the standards of the alliance between the two countries that has continued for decades, especially with regard to intelligence and counterintelligence matters,” and, according to Rep. Han's claim, the U.S. government had already formally raised such issues through the foreign ministers meeting more than 20 days before.

Ambassador Kang, who had attended that foreign ministers meeting, said, “There was an explanation regarding intelligence cooperation as viewed by the United States, but it is difficult to confirm specific details.”

Even so, Ambassador Kang acknowledged, “I do not think the issues related to intelligence cooperation have been sufficiently resolved to the level expected by the U.S. side.” In response to a question about what the most difficult pending issue in the ROK-U.S. relationship is, she said, “It is what is being discussed the most regarding intelligence cooperation.” Ambassador Kang also said, “I often meet with White House personnel, but high-level consultations are not taking place to the degree I would like, enough to make me feel frustrated. I acknowledge that there are limits in communication with the White House,” expressing frustration.

However, to Rep. Han's question, ‘Has the United States ever indicated to our side its lack of trust in National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok or Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young?’, Ambassador Kang drew a line, saying, “I remember there was no mention of specific individuals.”

When Rep. Han asked again, ‘Did you not even receive a request from Minister Chung to clear up the misunderstanding on the part of the U.S. side?’, Ambassador Kang explained, “What the U.S. side raised as an issue was the remark about (the Guseong nuclear facility in North Korea), not a problem with Minister Chung as an individual.”

The Trump administration has defined the act by Minister Chung in March of publicly identifying Guseong City in North Pyongan Province as the third nuclear facility of North Korea as a serious leak of national security secrets and, since then, has restricted the sharing of information related to North Korea nuclear facilities. In response to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Kim Geon about whether, at the request of Minister Chung, he had conveyed the position of the minister to the U.S. government, Ambassador Kang said, “Through standard consultation channels, we conveyed to the U.S. side (the position of Minister Chung).”

Ambassador Kang emphasized, “Although the issues are difficult, I believe U.S. support for the ROK-U.S. alliance has a distinctive bond and deep roots.”

Meanwhile, on the possibility of a U.S.-North Korea summit, Ambassador Kang said, “There is always a possibility,” and added, “President Trump has sent signals of willingness to talk on several occasions, and we are frequently checking with the U.S. Department of State and the NSC(National Security Council) as to what background those messages come from.” She added, “As far as I know, there is no specific progress yet.”

She continued, “Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains a consistent policy objective, but with the nuclear and missile capabilities of North Korea continuing to advance, a practical approach is needed that first freezes them at this stage,” and added, “We understand that U.S. officials share the view on step-by-step denuclearization.”