(ATTN: UPDATES with defense ministry statement in last 4 paras)
SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) — The commander of the U.S. military stationed in South Korea, Gen. Xavier Brunson, has lodged a protest against the unification minister’s recent remarks that allegedly leaked classified U.S. information about North Korea’s nuclear facility, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has come under fire for referring to the North’s Kusong region as one of the sites hosting the country’s uranium enrichment facilities in a parliamentary session last month.
Brunson recently lodged a protest with Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back over Chung’s remarks, according to Rep. Sung Il-jong of the main opposition People Power Party, who chairs the parliamentary national defense committee.
“Minister Chung should step down immediately,” Sung told a press briefing, arguing that a minister who has caused such a rift in the South Korea-U.S. alliance should not remain in office.
Following the controversy, the United States has partially restricted sharing intelligence with South Korea involving North Korea-related technology collected through satellites, military officials said earlier.
So far, only two regions — Yongbyon and Kangson — have been officially recognized as uranium enrichment sites in North Korea.
The unification ministry has claimed Chung’s remarks were based on “open information,” rejecting claims that they were based on intelligence shared by Washington.
This file photo, taken Jan. 30, 2026, shows Rep. Sung Il-jong of the main opposition People Power Party speaking during a press briefing at the National Assembly (Yonhap)
The defense ministry rejected Rep. Sung’s claim of the USFK commander’s protest as “not true.”
“It is not appropriate for a USFK commander to lodge a protest against a (South Korean) defense minister in terms of South Korea-U.S. military diplomacy, nor is (his claim) true,” the ministry said in a notice to the press.
It added South Korea and the U.S. are regularly in communication in regard to key issues and “thoroughly” abiding by the military intelligence-sharing pact between the two countries, without specifying the details.
A USFK official said they have no official statement regarding the issue, noting the U.S. military has “nothing to add.”
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
