Unification minister shrugs off alliance concerns amid intelligence-sharing strain

Amid a months-long partial freeze in South Korea-US intelligence sharing on North Korea, fresh friction over Coupang Inc. and disagreements on investment commitments to the United States have added to a growing sense of unease in the bilateral relationship. Experts say South Korea bears some responsibility for the deterioration and are calling for tighter information security, while stressing that the two sides must narrow their differences before any North Korea-US dialogue can take shape. Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young, however, shrugged off the concerns Monday, saying claims that the alliance is being shaken or damaged are "not true at all."

Jeong, who has been at the center of the controversy, held an unscheduled press briefing at Government Complex Seoul that morning. "There is no country allied with the United States that is not engaged in a tug-of-war over security and trade," he said. "It is a tug-of-war based on two criteria: national interest and autonomy." He added that South Korea was no different. "We need to ask ourselves what our national interest is and what our autonomy is," he said.

Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defense Forum, said in a phone interview Monday that the seeds of the current tension can be traced to Jeong's own remarks on North Korea. "Given the weight that a unification minister's words carry, the conflict can be seen as having started with Minister Jeong's North Korea-related statements," Shin said. "Even if other channels — such as Cheong Wa Dae — take the lead going forward, the key is ultimately restoring trust through thorough information security."

The friction is believed to have begun in March, when Jeong publicly mentioned a nuclear facility in North Korea's Guchang city. The United States reportedly objected, calling it a disclosure of classified information, and partially restricted the sharing of satellite intelligence on North Korea. More recently, South Korea's National Intelligence Service was said to have been excluded from a South Korea-US-Japan working-group meeting on North Korean cyber threats held in June.

Shin Beom-chul, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute and a former vice minister of national defense, said the priority should be identifying the precise cause of the strain, even as various factors — including specific officials' remarks and the Coupang issue — are being cited. "Rather than repeatedly insisting there are no problems between South Korea and the United States, the government should actively identify the sources of friction and take corrective action," he said. "If the situation becomes entrenched, security problems could spill over into economic ones, and trade with the US could also take a hit."

Observers note that the intelligence-cooperation dispute is in fact becoming intertwined with economic and trade issues. Trade friction over Coupang Inc. and delays in fulfilling investment pledges to the US have fueled negative perceptions of the South Korean government in Washington. Most recently, the two sides have been at odds over whether to include the Alaska LNG project among the specific items in South Korea's investment commitments to the US.

Against that backdrop, analysts say National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac's planned US visit must go beyond delivering a message of goodwill and produce concrete solutions. "If the gap between Seoul and Washington is not narrowed as much as possible before North Korea-US talks materialize, US cooperation on North Korea-related matters could diminish," the former vice minister said.

Yang Wook, a research fellow at the Asan Policy Institute, interpreted a recent US reference to "alliance standards" as a signal that confidence in South Korea's handling of sensitive information has weakened. He sharply criticized the South Korean diplomatic team's response and said the government should consider replacing Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha.

"We need to start with replacing the ambassador and send a signal to the United States that we take this seriously," Yang said. "The South Korean government must demonstrate through personnel changes that it is taking information security and alliance concerns to heart."

A senior White House official recently said, in response to questions about South Korea-US intelligence cooperation, that the US expects South Korea to uphold the standards of the decades-long alliance between the two countries. A Department of State official also said the US expects all allies to handle intelligence and counterintelligence matters appropriately.

The People Power Party has called the cracks in the alliance a danger-level threat and is demanding the immediate dismissal of both Jeong and National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok. Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik, targeting both officials, said they should no longer be called "autonomy advocates" but "pro-Pyongyang elements." "We must first cut out the pro-Pyongyang figures within the government who are causing our ally to distrust us," he said.