▲ Kim Tae-hyo (L), principal deputy national security adviser, speaks to reporters after arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 11, 2023. (Yonhap)

S Korea-US eavesdropping

No evidence shows ill intentions from U.S. in alleged tapping of presidential office: security adviser

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Yonhap) -- A South Korea's national security adviser insisted on Tuesday insisted that the U.S. may not have had any ill intentions when it possibly eavesdropped on conversations at Seoul's presidential office.

Kim Tae-hyo, principal deputy national security adviser, also said the allies believe a "large portion" of the classified documents believed to have leaked from the U.S. Department of Defense may be fake.

"Currently, a third party is implicated in a large part of this incident and there exists no circumstance that our ally, the U.S., has done this with some kind of malicious intention toward us," Kim told reporters after arriving in Washington.

Kim is here for talks with his U.S. counterparts on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit, which is slated to begin April 24.

However, Kim's visit also comes after two U.S. newspapers -- New York Times and Washington Post -- reported that leaked classified documents from the Pentagon showed U.S. intelligence services may have eavesdropped on conversations at the South Korean presidential office in early March to determine whether South Korea may provide lethal assistance to Ukraine.

Kim earlier said a great deal of the disclosed information appears to have been fabricated.

He repeated the same view when speaking to reporters in Washington, saying, "the view of South Korea and the U.S. is aligned that a great deal of the disclosed information is fabricated."

Kim also said he had no message to deliver to the U.S. on the issue when asked, saying, "because someone has fabricated" the documents.

John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the U.S. National Security Council, said on Monday that the U.S. is analyzing the leaked documents for their validity and that the country is engaging with the relevant allies and partners to ensure them of U.S. commitment to their defense.

On the upcoming meeting between Yoon and President Joe Biden, set to be held April 26, Kim said South Korea will do its utmost to strengthen U.S. extended deterrence as an outcome of the bilateral summit.

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