By Kyu-seok Shim
SEOUL, April 17 (Reuters) – South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on Friday it was not aware of any U.S. protest or curbs on intelligence sharing following a report that Washington was unhappy about the disclosure of a previously unconfirmed North Korean nuclear site.
The ministry said it had explained to the U.S. side that Minister Chung Dong-young’s public remarks about a North Korean nuclear facility at Kusong were based on publicly available information, including international research reports, and understood that its explanation had been accepted.
The Dong-A Ilbo reported that the U.S. had conveyed its displeasure to Seoul after Chung said at a parliamentary hearing on March 6 that North Korea had a uranium enrichment facility in Kusong, alongside well-known sites in Yongbyon and Kangson.
The newspaper, citing sources in South Korea and the United States, said Washington had indicated it would partially restrict the sharing of North Korea-related intelligence with Seoul, with Chung’s remarks serving as the trigger amid broader accumulated U.S. frustration over a series of bilateral foreign and security disagreements.
A ministry spokesperson said at a press briefing that it had “sufficiently explained the background” on Chung’s remarks after an inquiry from the U.S. embassy in South Korea and understood that “the U.S. side had accepted” the explanation.
The spokesperson also said the ministry was not aware of any protest or measures to restrict intelligence-sharing from the United States.
In separate comments to Reuters, the ministry said that if there had been any U.S. measures, it did not believe they were directly related to the minister’s comments.
The U.S. embassy in Seoul gave no immediate comment.
Chung told the parliamentary committee in March that North Korea had been enriching weapons-grade uranium at Yongbyon, Kangson and Kusong, citing remarks by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi at a board of governors meeting that month.
The IAEA transcript of Grossi’s introductory statement shows he mentioned only facilities at Yongbyon and Kangson, with no reference to Kusong.
(Reporting by Kyu-seok ShimEditing by Ed Davies)
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