The Ministry of National Defense on the 21st refuted as groundless political claims that Xavier Brunson, the U.S. Forces Korea commander, protested to Minister Ahn Gyu-baek over Minister Chung Dong-young's mention of "Gusong nuclear facilities" in North Korea.
The Ministry of National Defense issued a statement that afternoon, saying, "It is neither appropriate in U.S.-Korea military diplomacy nor true at all that the U.S. Forces Korea commander protested to the Minister of National Defense," adding, "The U.S. and Korea communicate frequently on major issues and are strictly complying with the military information security agreement." U.S. Forces Korea also said, "We have nothing further to add."
The Ministry of National Defense distributed a separate statement because of a press conference by Seong Il-jong, the People Power Party's National Defense Committee chairperson. Seong said that morning, "According to information I learned as the National Defense Committee chairperson, over Minister Chung's mention of Gusong as the location of a third North Korean nuclear facility, the U.S. Forces Korea commander urgently visited Ahn Gyu-baek, the Minister of National Defense, to lodge a strong protest."
He also said, "The U.S. Embassy in Korea's intelligence chief strongly protested this issue to the National Intelligence Service," adding, "If true, Minister Chung should not remain in that position for even one more second."
Earlier, on the 6th, Minister Chung appeared before the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and identified Yongbyon, Gusong, and Kangson as areas where North Korea's uranium enrichment facilities are operating. The enrichment facilities in North Korea officially confirmed by the government and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are two—Yongbyon and Kangson—but Gusong city was additionally mentioned. The U.S. side is said to have viewed that shared sensitive information was disclosed without prior consultation and demanded measures to prevent a recurrence.
Minister Chung explained, "I only used publicly available materials that have already been reported and disclosed dozens of times to explain policy," and President Lee Jae-myung said, "It is an obvious fact that the existence of the Gusong nuclear facility had already been widely known to the world through various papers and news reports."