U.S. to brief S. Korea on NSA reforms: official

The United States will brief South Korea on the recently announced reforms of the scandal-hit National Security Agency, including a likely ban on eavesdropping on South Korean President Park Geun-hye, a South Korean government official said Sunday.

On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to limit the NSA's eavesdropping on leaders of U.S. allies amid international outrage over revelations that the intelligence agency wiretapped the conversations of the leaders of 35 nations.

Seoul filed several requests with Washington to verify the reports, but received no specific reply, according to South Korean government officials.

"I understand that the U.S. government plans to provide further explanations on the background of the NSA reforms and their follow-up measures to each country through their embassies (in the U.S.)," one government official said, asking that he not be identified.

Citing Obama's pledge not to monitor the communications of heads of state of "close friends and allies," the official indicated that Park would be among them.

"Of course, South Korea is one of the U.S.' close allies," he said. (Yonhap News)