WASHINGTON — Kang Kyung-wha, South Korea's ambassador to the United States, said on the 12th that U.S. officials told a bilateral foreign ministers' meeting in September that there were "problems in intelligence cooperation" between the two countries.
Kang made the remark at a parliamentary audit held at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, responding to a question from independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on whether the meeting had included any mention of damage to trust between the two countries' intelligence channels. "There was a remark that there are problems in intelligence cooperation," she said.
Han said that at the foreign ministers' meeting held in Washington on Sept. 18, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio asked that President Lee Jae-myung be informed that trust between the two countries' intelligence channels had been damaged and needed to be restored. Han also said Rubio had raised the case of a South Korean company that was reluctant to deal or cooperate with American defense firms because of the possibility of sanctions under China's end-user restrictions, and had asked that the matter be looked into. He did not name the company.
Kang said Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, after hearing Rubio's remarks, returned home and pledged to work toward a resolution in consultation with relevant ministries, and that the U.S. side had acknowledged significant progress since then. She added, however, that she does not believe Washington's concerns have been fully resolved. On the corporate issue, she said both the United States and China have distinctive regulatory systems governing the defense industry, leaving one particular South Korean company caught in between, and that the embassy is in talks with authorities to hear and address the firm's difficulties.
On delays in visa issuance for National Intelligence Service personnel, Kang said she understands there have been two or three such cases since she took up her post.
Kang also acknowledged limits to the embassy's communication with the White House. "I meet frequently with the White House, the National Security Council and key figures, but high-level consultations are not taking place to the extent I would like, to a frustrating degree," she said.