Seoul: The commander of the U.S. military stationed in South Korea, Gen. Xavier Brunson, has lodged a protest against the unification minister's recent remarks that allegedly leaked classified U.S. information about North Korea's nuclear facility, a lawmaker said Tuesday. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has come under fire for referring to the North's Kusong region as one of the sites hosting the country's uranium enrichment facilities in a parliamentary session last month.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Gen. Brunson recently lodged a protest with Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back over Chung's remarks. This information was disclosed by Rep. Sung Il-jong of the main opposition People Power Party, who chairs the parliamentary national defense committee. Rep. Sung has called for the immediate resignation of Minister Chung, arguing that a minister who has caused such a rift in the South Korea-U.S. alliance should not remain in office.

Following the controversy, the United States has partially restricted sharing intelligence with South Korea involving North Korea-related technology collected through satellites, military officials said earlier. So far, only two regions -- Yongbyon and Kangson -- have been officially recognized as uranium enrichment sites in North Korea.

The unification ministry has claimed that Chung's remarks were based on "open information," rejecting claims that they were based on intelligence shared by Washington.