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Seoul’s surveillance of North unaffected by U.S. intel-sharing restrictions: Source

Published: 28 Apr. 2026, 18:35

This file photo, provided by Arianespace on Dec. 1, 2025, shows the Vega-C rocket with the Arirang 7 satellite at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. [YONHAP]

South Korea's surveillance of North Korea has not been disrupted by U.S. restrictions on intelligence sharing following the unification minister's disclosure of Pyongyang's nuclear facility site in Kusong, a government source said Tuesday.

The source acknowledged some "partial" restrictions on intelligence sharing from the United States but said Seoul's satellite assets have kept its intelligence-gathering capabilities intact.

According to the source, a military surveillance satellite launched in November is set to become fully operational this month following deployment tests, bringing the total number of surveillance satellites capable of distinguishing individual vehicles on the ground to five.

In addition, Arirang 7, the country's multipurpose satellite launched in December, is scheduled for deployment in July. The satellite is equipped with an ultrahigh-resolution electro-optical camera and an infrared sensor, offering high-quality imagery for environmental and disaster monitoring.

The remarks came after Washington reportedly complained about Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's identification of North Korea's Kusong region as one of the three sites housing the country's uranium enrichment facilities — a rare public disclosure made during a parliamentary session last month.

The United States is said to have objected to Chung's disclosure, believing the information was derived from intelligence shared by Washington. But the Ministry of Unification said that the minister's remarks were based on "publicly available information."

Yonhap