The U.S. and South Korean defense ministers, Lloyd Austin and Lee Jong Seop, respectively, held a telephone conversation on Tuesday to discuss the alleged leak of a series of Pentagon documents containing alleged U.S. intelligence intercepts of South Korean government communications.
»The conversation took place following Secretary Austin’s request, which addressed the recent release of documents classified as secret,» the South Korean Defense Ministry explained in a statement.
Austin expressed his commitment to »maintain contact with the Seoul authorities and cooperate with the South Korean government on this matter,» the statement said.
The two have pointed out that the alliance between the two countries is stronger than ever and have agreed to work together to strengthen ties and carry out various commemorative projects for the 70th anniversary of the alliance,» he stressed.
The conversation comes days after the US newspapers ‘The New York Times’ and ‘The Washington Post’ published a series of documents revealing, in the case of South Korea, that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US country was intercepting communications of the South Korean government about the possible sending of aid to Ukraine in the framework of the invasion of Russia.
However, the South Korean authorities have explained that the Asian country has not yet decided whether it will supply weapons to Ukraine and have pointed out that, for the time being, they have opted to maintain their initial policy of sending only humanitarian aid.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
