US eavesdropping-official
No reason to believe U.S. tapped S. Korea's presidential office: official
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, April 13 (Yonhap) -- There still exists no hard evidence that the United States has eavesdropped on conversations at South Korea's presidential office, a ranking South Korean official said Thursday.
The official said there was no reason to believe the U.S. conducted any malicious activities in Seoul.
"From what the South Korean government has determined so far, there isn't any reason to conclude that the U.S. has wiretapped us," the official said while meeting with reporters in Washington, asking not to be identified.
"We believe there has not been any malicious activities" committed by the U.S., the official added.
Earlier news reports suggested that U.S. intelligence services may have eavesdropped on conversations at South Korea's presidential office, citing classified documents allegedly leaked from the U.S. Department of Defense and shared on social media.
Kim Tae-hyo, principal deputy national security adviser at the South Korean presidential office, earlier said there was no reason to believe the U.S. has acted with any malicious intention toward Seoul, also noting that a great deal of the allegedly leaked documents appeared to have been fabricated.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, insisted that intelligence collecting activities may not always be malicious, saying all countries may engage in such activities.
"Every country has the possibility of gathering intelligence on us. We too cannot guarantee that we are not engaged in such activities toward others," the official said.
"It means that based on what the South Korean government has determined, there is no evidence to conclude that the U.S. has wiretapped us. It means that we assume there has not been any malicious activities so far," the official added.
The official also insisted that the leaked information did not reveal any sensitive intelligence.
"It is clear that the disclosed information does not correspond to facts as far as I understand," the official said.
"The mutual trust between South Korea and the U.S. in sharing information and preparing for the (Korea-U.S.) summit is firmly operating," added the official, referring to the upcoming summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden, set to be held in the U.S. capital on April 26.
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