Any Pledge to Prevent Future Wiretapping? President Yoon, “Will Watch U.S. Investigation Results”

President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden shake hands ahead of a summit with a limited number of participants from South Korea and the U.S. at the White House in Washington D.C. on April 26 (local time). Washington D.C. Kim Chang-gil

On April 26, President Yoon Suk-yeol, currently on a state visit to the United States, said, “I plan to fully communicate after taking some time to watch the U.S. investigation results,” when asked about the alleged U.S. wiretapping of officials in South Korea’s Office of National Security.

On Wednesday, President Yoon held a joint press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden after a summit at the White House in Washington D.C. and gave the answer when asked about the alleged wiretapping of allies by the U.S.

The president did not give a clear answer when a journalist asked if President Biden made any promise during the summit to prevent such wiretapping from happening again in the future.

Instead, President Yoon said, “South Korea and the U.S. are discussing the issue and sharing necessary information.” He also mentioned that since the U.S. investigation was currently ongoing and since such issues between two countries involved diverse and complicated variables, he would “take time to watch the U.S. investigation results” and sufficiently discuss the matter with the U.S.

President Yoon’s answer implied that the alleged wiretapping by the U.S. was not discussed as a major agenda in the summit. It was not mentioned at all in the official greetings of the two state leaders, their opening remarks in the summit, and in their statements at the joint press conference.

In a briefing for Korean members of the press on April 25, one day before the summit, John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, said, “His (President Yoon’s) focus in the state visit is on the future,” when asked whether the two leaders would discuss the wiretapping during the summit, suggesting that it would not be a major agenda.

Earlier in an interview with NBC on April 24, President Yoon was asked if friends spied on friends. He answered, “Generally speaking, you can’t do that between friends. But in the real world, I don’t think that is prohibited in the relationship between countries.” At the time, President Yoon mentioned that the R.O.K-U.S. alliance was based on the highest level of trust and said, “As long as you have that kind of trust, you’re not shaken.”