Key facts
- South Korea's spy agency denied a report claiming the U.S. restricted intelligence sharing on North Korea to missile-related information.
- The National Intelligence Service (NIS) stated that cooperation with the U.S. is active across various areas, including missiles, conventional military capabilities, and cybersecurity.
- The NIS also denied that the total volume of intelligence provided by the U.S. has decreased.
- The denial follows concerns over intelligence cooperation friction after a North Korean uranium enrichment facility disclosure.
- The NIS was excluded from a June trilateral meeting with the U.S. and Japan on North Korean cyberthreats.
SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Sunday dismissed a local news report as completely untrue, rejecting its claim that the United States has restricted intelligence sharing with Seoul on North Korea to missile-related information.
The denial by the NIS comes amid concerns over apparent friction in bilateral intelligence cooperation following the disclosure of a North Korean uranium enrichment facility.
In March, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young referred during a parliamentary session to North Korea's Kusong region as one of the sites housing a uranium enrichment facility, a disclosure that reportedly prompted Washington to restrict Seoul's access to some intelligence related to North Korea. On Thursday, the NIS acknowledged that it had been excluded from a June trilateral meeting with Washington and Tokyo on North Korean cyberthreats.