On October 9, the NIS confirmed it did not attend June talks on North Korean cyber threats. The agency said it considers an earlier misunderstanding resolved, while lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties voiced concern about ties with Washington.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) did not attend a June meeting of U.S., Japanese and South Korean officials on cyber threats from North Korea. A local newspaper reported that the U.S. side had asked for the agency to be left out. On Thursday, the NIS effectively confirmed that South Korea’s intelligence service had been excluded.
The NIS described the episode as a misunderstanding that arose several months ago and said it considered the matter to be in the past. The agency stressed that South Korean and U.S. intelligence services continued to work closely on security matters, including cyber threats and North Korea.
A senior member of the ruling bloc acknowledged that various disputes had affected bilateral relations. The official called instability in the relationship undesirable and said problems in the intelligence sector should not arise. Ruling-bloc figures also discussed possible steps to ease tensions but said there were no current plans to send National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac to Washington.
Yonhap cited March remarks by Unification Minister Chung Dong-young about an alleged uranium-enrichment facility in Kusong among possible sources of friction. Chung said he had only repeated information already in the public domain. Reports said Washington subsequently restricted Seoul’s access to some intelligence on North Korea.
Separately, South Korea’s industry ministry rejected a local report alleging that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had voiced distrust of the NIS during talks on investment projects. On the same day, the ruling Democratic Party expressed regret over a delay in issuing a U.S. visa to its former leader, Jung Chung-rae. Party spokesperson Park Sung-joon said the application was still under review, although Jung had planned to visit the United States for a parliamentary audit of Seoul’s diplomatic missions.
The opposition People Power Party suggested the delay could be related to strain in the alliance. Its spokesperson Choi Eun-seok urged the government to check whether communication and trust between South Korea and the United States had been affected. The NIS, for its part, said publicly that the two countries’ intelligence services continued to cooperate.