Wi Sung-lac, director of the Office of National Security at the Blue House who accompanied President Lee Jae-myung on his trip to India and Vietnam, said on the 23rd (local time), "We are working hard to manage the South Korea-U.S. alliance by dealing well with the issues that are emerging now," adding, "We need to return to a normal state of cooperation as soon as possible." He acknowledged the uncomfortable situation between the two countries over Minister Chung Dong-young of the Ministry of Unification's alleged leak of information on North Korea and Korea's regulations on Coupang. However, he drew a line against the interpretation of an "abnormal current," saying it was "a process of coordinating and managing differences."
The Deputy Minister said at a local briefing in Hanoi during the state visit to Vietnam that regarding the Minister's remarks on the "North Korea Gusong nuclear facility," "The Gusong matter is originally secret, and (the United States) must have shared it with Korea, making it a combined secret." The point was that the information is indeed classified. Even so, he explained a perception gap between the two countries, saying, "The Minister said he was talking about what he had obtained from open sources (publicly available information), and the United States seems to think that information they provided leaked. So that's why there was a commotion."
In particular, regarding the Minister's explanation that it was not a leak of classified information because it had already been disclosed by U.S. research institutes, he said, "The government (the Ministry of Unification) thinks so." Differences between the autonomy camp centered on the Ministry of Unification and the alliance camp, which includes the Office of National Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had previously surfaced over peace on the Korean Peninsula and North Korea policy. When asked whether the United States had restricted the sharing of information on North Korea in the wake of the Minister's remarks, the Deputy Minister said, "It is difficult to confirm or deny matters of intelligence."
The Deputy Minister said they are communicating to narrow the perception gap between South Korea and the United States regarding this situation. He said, "There were cases where the Minister communicated directly (with the U.S. side), and through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic channels, I am also continuing to communicate with the United States based on our current position." He meant that they are explaining that the Minister did not leak U.S.-origin information but used information that was already public. He added, however, "It will probably take time (until the differences are resolved)."