Kim Tae-hyo: "Japan May Also Be Included in the Expansion of US-Korea Intelligence Sharing"

Regarding Provincial Wiretapping Controversy, "US Expresses Regret Every Time We Meet"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Tae-hyo, the First Deputy Director of the National Security Office, said that Japan may be included as a target country for expanded information sharing between South Korea and the United States to be discussed at the upcoming South Korea-U.S. summit scheduled for the end of this month, and that it will be reviewed step by step.

Deputy Director Kim met with reporters at Incheon International Airport in Jung-gu, Incheon, in the afternoon and responded to the question, "Is there a possibility that Japan will be included in the South Korea-U.S. intelligence alliance?" by saying, "There is a high possibility, but I believe it can be reviewed step by step depending on the matter." He returned to Korea on the same day after visiting Washington D.C., USA, on a 5-day, 3-night trip.

South Korea and the United States plan to adopt a separate document on comprehensive cybersecurity cooperation at the summit scheduled for the 26th. Based on the recognition that the geographical and spatial scope of the South Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty should be expanded to include space and cyber domains, consultations between the two countries are currently underway.

When asked whether the level of information sharing between the two countries could be elevated to the level of the "Five Eyes" (an intelligence-sharing network among five English-speaking countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), Deputy Director Kim said, "There is an intelligence alliance among English-speaking countries, but we have a perhaps deeper South Korea-U.S. intelligence alliance, and we are strengthening this alliance." He added, "Discussions will also be held in the future about which partners to additionally invite to the South Korea-U.S. intelligence alliance."

Regarding whether the recent controversy over the U.S. intelligence agency's alleged wiretapping of the South Korean presidential office will be included on the agenda of this summit, he said, "There are no plans for that yet," and explained, "The two countries are currently united in the view that this can be turned into an opportunity for growth, building trust, and making the summit more substantive and fruitful."

Deputy Director Kim continued, "The U.S. side has given a firm commitment to communicate closely whenever additional situations related to the wiretapping arise," and said, "However, no new facts have emerged during my travel to Korea." He also mentioned that the U.S. side expressed regret every time they met, adding, "There is a firm consensus that, in any case, this should be an opportunity to strengthen trust between the two countries."

Kim Tae-hyo said, "Based on the achievements of the 70-year alliance, I believe this summit will be a significant historic turning point that marks a new chapter in the future of the alliance," and added, "We will prepare over the remaining week to ensure meaningful results in terms of both content and format of the summit."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.