US Intelligence Chief Visits Korea... Strengthening 'Korea-US Alliance' Ahead of 'Korea-US Summit'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Last week, Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) of the United States, visited South Korea via Japan and met with President Moon Jae-in to share the value of the South Korea-US alliance. This visit appears to be aimed at strengthening trilateral diplomatic cooperation among South Korea, the US, and Japan ahead of the South Korea-US summit scheduled for the 21st (local time), as well as devising solutions to the North Korean nuclear issue.

The Blue House announced that President Moon met with DNI Haines on the afternoon of the 14th during her visit to South Korea. Both sides exchanged broad and in-depth views on current issues between South Korea and the US and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, engaging in a dialogue expressing the hope that "the South Korea-US alliance will become stronger."

At the meeting, President Moon expressed his expectations, saying, "I hope that during DNI Haines' tenure, the intelligence cooperation between the two countries will further develop and the South Korea-US alliance will become even stronger." DNI Haines responded by stating, "The South Korea-US alliance holds value beyond a security alliance." President Moon emphasized that the alliance shares universal values such as democracy, human rights, and peace, beyond just security cooperation.

Prior to this, on the 13th, DNI Haines toured the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Joint Security Area (JSA), and visited the Yongsan Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters in Seoul to meet with military personnel. It is reported that during this visit, DNI Haines showed interest in collecting human intelligence (HUMINT) related to North Korea. At the trilateral intelligence chiefs meeting held in Tokyo, Japan, on the 12th, DNI Haines met with Park Jie-won, the Director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea, and it is known that they had an additional separate meeting in South Korea.

This visit appears to be intended to inform about the Biden administration's new North Korea policy ahead of the South Korea-US summit scheduled for the 21st, and to discuss summit-related agendas such as the North Korean nuclear issue, trilateral security cooperation among South Korea, the US, and Japan, and Northeast Asian issues. Additionally, the public visit to the DMZ, the frontline bordering North Korea, can be interpreted as a pressure tactic urging North Korea, which has been silent while monitoring the situation, to come to the dialogue table. The US side has recently completed a review of its North Korea policy and has attempted multiple contacts to explain this to the North, but North Korea has not responded to these attempts.