[2026 Parliamentary Audit] Han Donghoon: NIS "Effectively Admits" Its Chief Was Denied Entry to U.S.; NIS: "Not True at All"

NIS: "Difficult to respond due to South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation and national security matters"
Han Donghoon: "Response followed headquarters instructions... effectively acknowledged my claim"
NIS immediately refutes claim: "Claims related to entry denial are entirely untrue"

Yonhap News Agency

Independent lawmaker Han Donghoon claimed that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) had effectively acknowledged allegations that its Director, Lee Jongseok, was denied entry to the United States. The NIS immediately denied the claim again, saying it was "not true at all," and the dispute over what happened continued.

On Oct. 7, during the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's audit of the Ministry of Unification at the Inter-Korean Dialogue Headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Han disclosed the NIS's response to allegations he had raised the previous day that Lee was denied entry to the United States.

According to Han, the NIS replied at around 6 p.m. that day, saying, "It is difficult to respond because this concerns intelligence cooperation between South Korea and the United States and national security." Han said the NIS had verbally explained that the response was "in accordance with instructions from NIS headquarters."

The previous day, during the Foreign Affairs Ministry's parliamentary audit, Han claimed that he had learned Lee had sought to visit the United States around March 2026, but that the U.S. side had denied him entry, citing concerns including Lee's anti-American leanings.

Han interpreted the NIS's response as effectively confirming his claim. Referring to the fact that the NIS had issued a detailed rebuttal to a report the previous day about a visa denial for an NIS employee scheduled to be posted to the United States, he said, "Judging by common sense, what the NIS said a day later is effectively an admission that my claim is true."

The NIS immediately refuted the claim. In a statement distributed to the media, it said, "We once again make clear that the claim that the United States denied entry to the NIS director is not true at all."

The NIS also stressed that Foreign Minister Cho Hyun had denied the allegations during the previous day's parliamentary audit. In response to Han's claim, Cho had said, "Not to my knowledge," adding, "That cannot be true."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.