Unification Minister Chung Dong-young clarified that his reference to North Korea’s Kusong region as a site for nuclear facilities aimed to elucidate South Korea’s North Korea policy. He expressed regret over claims that this amounted to divulging sensitive information.
Chung’s comments came in response to accusations of revealing classified intelligence on North Korea by identifying Kusong as a location with uranium enrichment facilities during a recent parliamentary session. Officially, only Yongbyon and Kusong are recognized as uranium enrichment sites in North Korea, although some sources have also linked Kusong to nuclear facilities.
Stressing that his mention of Kusong was part of a policy explanation to highlight the gravity of North Korea’s nuclear situation, Chung refuted allegations of information leakage. He stated that the information was already in the public domain, citing expert analyses and media reports, and not intelligence from the U.S., which has reportedly raised concerns and halted satellite data sharing with Seoul.
Chung dismissed claims of a crisis in South Korea-US relations, emphasizing the importance of national interests and urging for constructive dialogue between Seoul and Washington to address the issue smoothly.
