Industry ministry denies report of Lutnick's dissatisfaction with spy agency
The industry ministry on Friday formally dismissed a local news report alleging U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had voiced dissatisfaction with South Korea's spy agency during bilateral negotiations on strategic investment projects. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources issued the denial in response to a local newspaper article claiming Lutnick had conveyed Washington's discontent…
The industry ministry firmly rejected a local newspaper report suggesting that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressed discontent with South Korea's intelligence agency during recent bilateral talks on strategic investment ventures. In response to the article's claim that Lutnick conveyed Washington's displeasure with South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) to Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, the ministry categorically denied the allegation.
The ministry emphasized that Lutnick never conveyed distrust of the NIS during the negotiations. Both the industry ministry and the NIS have issued statements asserting they were never briefed on the purported remark by Lutnick. This tension arises amid partial U.S. restrictions on intelligence sharing with Seoul since April, in protest over the unification minister's disclosure of sensitive information.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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