The biggest leak of classified documents in a decade sparked tensions around the globe this week, putting the U.S. in the hot seat for a number of internal records it wrote on allies and partners.
The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol responded forcefully on Tuesday to leaked Pentagon documents that said Seoul was open to supplying artillery shells to the U.S. military but was privately concerned about the munitions being diverted to Ukraine.
Citing a recent conversation between South Korean and U.S. defense chiefs, Yoon’s office pushed back on claims that the U.S. had spied on Seoul, saying a “significant number” of documents were altered.
The incident set off unrest in South Korea, with the opposition to Yoon’s political party expressing concerns over “illegal espionage activities” and the South Korean president’s office security.
Karl Friedhoff, a fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said the incident would “add to the growing perception of a subservient foreign policy of the Yoon administration.”
“But this is not going to lead to any kind of anti-American sentiment in the country,” he said in a statement. “The blame won’t be focused on the United States, there’s probably an understanding that this is the reality of international politics.”
The Pentagon is still reviewing a trove of documents circulating online since at least March and possibly as early as January, and it’s unclear how many of them were altered or forged.
The records, which appear to have first leaked on the social platform Discord, also include purported information on allies Israel and Egypt.
One document suggests Egypt secretly planned to supply Russia with 40,000 rockets, along with artillery shells and gunpowder, to support Moscow in the war against Ukraine.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi reportedly told his subordinates to keep the plans secret to avoid confrontation with the West.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. has not seen any evidence of arms support for Russia, and a senior Egyptian official on Tuesday also denied the allegations in comments carried by state media.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also denied allegations contained in a leaked document about his country’s own internal affairs.
Documents suggested the Mossad intelligence agency supported domestic protests last month against a controversial judicial reform plan from Netanyahu.
And the United Arab Emirates has rejected allegations in a leaked document that its security service agents were planning to work with Russian agents against U.S. and U.K. intelligence agencies.
That information was reportedly gleaned from U.S. communication intercepts of Russian sources, according to the document.
We have a lot more on the leaked docs at TheHill.com.
