South Korea to seek 'appropriate measures' over US spying claims in leaked documents

By Riyaz ul Khaliq, Firdevs Bulut Kartal and Kasim Ileri

ISTANBUL (AA) - South Korea on Monday said it will seek “appropriate measures” from the US after spying revelations came to light in recently leaked Pentagon documents.

South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party has urged the government to “immediately demand clear information” from Washington on reports about alleged “attempts by the US to eavesdrop on South Korean officials,” according to a Yonhap News Agency report.

“Once the two countries finish figuring out the situation, we plan to request appropriate measures from the US, if necessary,” said an official from the South Korean president’s office.

“That process will proceed based on a relationship of trust formed between two allies,” he added.

The Pentagon said on Friday it is conducting an investigation after alleged screenshots of classified US and NATO documents regarding the Ukraine war and other issues emerged on social media.

The documents, which carry US Joint Chiefs of Staff seals, are largely believed to be factual, but some of the contents were allegedly altered.

The Defense Department is “aware of the reports of social media posts, and the department is reviewing the matter,” Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, told Anadolu.

The unnamed South Korean official also emphasized that reports on the leaked documents “have not yet been verified as true and that a US government investigation is underway,” read the Yonhap News Agency report.

“If there are forces trying to exaggerate this incident ahead of the South Korea-US summit or distort it to undermine the alliance, they will face the resistance of many people,” he said, referring to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s planned meeting with US’ Joe Biden in Washington on April 26.

*Contributions from Anadolu’s US Desk