S. Korea, U.S. view purported Pentagon documents as faked: presidential official

SEOUL, April 11 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States spoke by phone and agreed on the assessment that much of the information contained in purported Pentagon documents leaked online was faked, a senior South Korean official said.

Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo made the remark to reporters as he headed to Washington, D.C., for talks about preparations for an upcoming state visit to the U.S. by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

"The defense ministers of the two countries had a phone call this morning and the views of the two countries matched," Kim said. "The two countries have the same view that a great deal of disclosed information was fabricated."

Yoon plans to hold talks with his counterpart, Joe Biden, at the White House on April 26.

Officials of the allies have been perplexed by a slew of news reports based on the leaked documents that Washington had recently wiretapped conversations of top South Korean national security officials.

Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup talked with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin by phone on the matter earlier in the day and agreed that much of the disclosed information is untrue, according to Kim.

He pointed out that the U.S. authorities will try to find who is behind the incident, which is likely to take some time.

He dismissed worries that the eavesdropping scandal itself may affect the health of the Seoul-Washington alliance, with the Yoon-Biden summit talks less than three weeks away.

Kim said the U.S. has the world's strongest intelligence capabilities and the allies have been sharing information in almost all fields over the past 11 months since the launch of the Yoon administration.

The incident this time is expected to serve as a chance for the two sides to further strengthen mutual trust, he added.

lcd@yna.co.kr
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