Seoul's spy agency denies report that US now shares only missile intelligence on North Korea

South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) on 11 October rejected as completely untrue a broadcast report that the United States now passes Seoul intelligence on North Korea only about missiles, saying cooperation between the two allies still covers a wide range of fields.

In a statement released to the press, the agency said that, apart from some information tied to the sharing restrictions the government has already acknowledged, South Korea and the United States are actively cooperating on North Korea's missiles and conventional military capabilities, on developments inside the North, and on international relations, cyber security and counterintelligence.

The NIS also denied that the overall volume of intelligence supplied by Washington has fallen. Despite the limits in certain areas, it said, the total amount provided by the United States has not been reduced, and intelligence sharing between the two countries remains two-way and mutually beneficial in many areas.

The agency went further, urging some media outlets to stop what it described as a competitive stream of careless fake news that shakes the intelligence services and damages the national interest, according to JoongAng Ilbo and NoCut News.

Defence ministry also pushes back

The Ministry of National Defense issued its own statement on the night of 10 October saying the report did not match the facts. The ministry said there are no limits on the intelligence sharing between Seoul and Washington that is needed to keep a firm military readiness posture against North Korea, and that information whose sharing is restricted is being sufficiently covered by the South Korean military's own, greatly improved intelligence capabilities.

What the report said

Both statements answer a report aired by the broadcaster SBS on 10 October. Citing a key military official, SBS said US intelligence reaching the South Korean military is now confined to North Korean missiles, namely signs of activity before a launch and a missile's altitude, range and speed afterwards, and that the total volume shared had fallen sharply compared with the past. The official told the broadcaster that the restrictions had continued since March.

The friction dates to March, when Unification Minister Chung Dong-young referred during a parliamentary session to North Korea's Kusong region as a site housing a uranium enrichment facility, information classified as combined alliance material. That disclosure reportedly prompted Washington to restrict Seoul's access to some intelligence on the North, including material on nuclear facilities.

The denial caps a week of pressure on the issue. On 8 October the NIS acknowledged that it had been excluded from a June trilateral meeting with the United States and Japan on North Korean cyber threats, and on 9 October a senior US official said Washington expects Seoul to uphold the standards of the decades-long alliance.

Neither the NIS nor the defence ministry said which information remains restricted, or when full sharing on those subjects might resume.