South Korea Denies Report That Lutnick Voiced Distrust of Spy Agency

South Korea’s industry ministry on Friday denied a local media report alleging that US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s intelligence service during bilateral talks on strategic investment projects.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said the claim that Lutnick conveyed distrust of the National Intelligence Service to Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan during the negotiations was not true. It urged the newspaper behind the report to provide accurate coverage and avoid creating unnecessary misunderstanding and confusion.

The National Intelligence Service issued a separate notice to the press backing the denial. The spy agency said it had received no information that Lutnick made the alleged remark. The parallel responses from two South Korean government bodies were intended to rebut the account directly as questions persist over intelligence cooperation between Seoul and Washington.

The dispute comes against the backdrop of limited access to some US intelligence concerning North Korea. Washington has partially restricted Seoul’s access to information involving North Korean technology since April, following controversy over the South Korean unification minister’s disclosure of information about one of the North’s nuclear facilities.

That broader intelligence issue has drawn scrutiny in South Korea, where officials have sought to distinguish restricted material from information required to respond to immediate security threats. The latest government statements, however, focused specifically on rejecting the claim that Lutnick voiced dissatisfaction with the National Intelligence Service in his discussions with Kim.

The talks in question involved strategic investment projects in the United States, an area that has become increasingly important in economic relations between the allies. The industry ministry’s response indicates concern that an unverified account of mistrust could complicate public understanding of those negotiations or link separate intelligence and investment issues without an established basis.

Neither ministry nor intelligence officials, in the statements released Friday, provided further details about the bilateral negotiations or identified additional remarks by Lutnick. Their position was limited but unequivocal: the reported expression of distrust did not occur, and the intelligence service had not been informed of any such comment.

The episode highlights the sensitivity surrounding Seoul’s management of two closely watched aspects of its relationship with Washington: cooperation on major US-bound investment and the exchange of intelligence related to North Korea. South Korean authorities are continuing to address remaining intelligence-sharing restrictions while insisting that the alleged complaint attributed to the US commerce secretary should not be treated as part of that dispute.