Unification minister says S. Korea-U.S. alliance intact despite conflicting interests

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young dismissed allegations on Monday that his comments about a suspected North Korean uranium enrichment site caused the U.S. to limit intelligence sharing with South Korea. Opposition politicians are pressing for his resignation. In response, Chung claimed the United States had misunderstood the situation, stating that his reference to the North's Kusong region originated during his July 2025 confirmation hearing, not in March this year when he made the remarks as a minister in a parliamentary session.

The U.S. mistake, according to Chung, was assuming intelligence had been shared, passed on to him, and then leaked. He emphasized that his statements were made in July of the previous year as a lawmaker, not as unification minister, and that the U.S. may have missed this detail. Should they have been aware, the U.S. would not have raised the issue.

Chung acknowledged that even the U.S. can misinterpret facts. He added, "The U.S. should have taken action against the National Assembly or the Democratic Party of Korea, because I was a DPK lawmaker then."