- A trove of leaked Pentagon documents reveal US spying on allies, including South Korea.
- South Korea said it believes a lot of the documents are fabricated.
South Korea said that many of the documents contained in a major leak of US intelligence are fabricated.
Pentagon intelligence documents, which include intelligence on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and on allies, including South Korea, were shared across multiple social media platforms last week.
But South Korea's presidential office said in a statement that US and South Korean defense ministers agreed that much of the documents' content isn't real.
It's unclear if it was referring to content specifically related to South Korea.
"On the US government's alleged wiretapping, the defense ministers of the two countries agreed that 'a considerable amount of the documents were fabricated,'" it said, according to CNN.
US officials told The New York Times that many of the documents are real, but said that some of them appeared to have been altered.
The documents include the claim that aides to South Korea's president were concerned that artillery shells the country sold to the US would end up in Ukraine, despite US assurances.
The leak has already damaged the relationship between the two countries.
Opposition politicians in South Korea denounced supposed US spying, calling it "a clear violation of our sovereignty by the United States," The New York Times reported.
It is not clear who leaked the documents, and the US government has said it is investigating.
The Pentagon said on Monday that while the documents appeared to be similar to some of the updates it gives, there were inaccuracies, Reuters reported.
Reuters noted that the documents could have been leaked and altered by Russia to spread misinformation, or it could be part of a US scheme to mislead Russia.
The leaked documents also deal with other US allies, including France, China, and Israel, as well as countries like Iran.
The Pentagon called the document leak a serious risk to national security.