The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Tuesday urged the government to immediately lodge a complaint with Washington over alleged attempts to eavesdrop on top South Korean officials and called for measures to prevent a recurrence of such an incident.
Rep. Park Hong-keun, the DP's floor leader, made the remarks in response to reports from The New York Times and The Washington Post on a set of leaked Pentagon documents that allegedly reveal that U.S. intelligence services eavesdropped on Seoul's internal debates about providing weapons to the United States for use in Ukraine in early March.
Earlier on Tuesday, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said the defense chiefs of the two countries spoke by phone and agreed on the assessment that much of the information contained in the leaked documents was faked.
The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol has said it will request appropriate measures from the U.S. if needed after figuring out the situation.
"The government should first provide a clear explanation to people and rectify the situation by actively protesting," Park said in a party meeting, accusing the government of trying to menace those who raise an issue with the case.
Park also blamed what he calls a "hasty" relocation of the presidential office.
"I cannot help but laugh at the claim that the security of the Yongsan presidential office is perfect when neither the sky above nor the surrounding wall is sound," Park said, referring to the document leakage case and the penetration of the no-fly zone around the presidential office by a North Korean drone in December.
On Monday, Yoon's office said the security of the Yongsan presidential office is better than that of the former presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae.
The ruling People Power Party (PPP), however, accused the DP of making "groundless" political attacks, saying the priority now is verifying the facts.
"Whenever an issue comes up, they make claims implicating the presidential office, but claims should be made based on grounds," PPP's new floor leader Yun Jae-ok said.
PPP spokesperson Kang Min-kuk also claimed that the DP is making such claims for political gains.
"On the surface, the Democratic Party says they are concerned about the country's diplomacy and security, but their ulterior intention is none other than rocking the Yoon Suk Yeol government," he said. "Unless the Democratic Party is in agreement with North Korea, which is waiting for a weakening of the Korea-U.S. alliance, we hope they will stop partisan politics at least on diplomacy and security issues."
Source: Yonhap News Agency