UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — U.S. limits sharing of intelligence with Seoul on North Korea: report

Q1. The Mutual Defense Treaty that remains the foundational legal basis of the United States–Republic of Korea security alliance was signed in which year?

  • A. 1950
  • B. 1953
  • C. 1954
  • D. 1965

Q2. Kusong was publicly named as one of three suspected uranium-enrichment sites in North Korea during a 2026 parliamentary session by which South Korean office-holder?

  • A. The Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • B. The Minister of National Defense
  • C. The Minister of Unification
  • D. The Director of the National Intelligence Service

Q3. Prior to the 2026 restriction, approximately how many pages of daily intelligence on North Korea did the United States reportedly provide to South Korea?

  • A. 10 to 20 pages
  • B. 50 to 100 pages
  • C. 150 to 200 pages
  • D. 300 to 400 pages

Q4. The South Korean minister whose 2026 parliamentary disclosure triggered the intelligence-sharing dispute heads the ministry responsible for inter-Korean affairs and reunification policy. Which body is this?

  • A. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • B. Ministry of National Defense
  • C. Ministry of Unification
  • D. National Intelligence Service

Q5. On withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003, North Korea declared itself free from the safeguards agreement administered by which body?

  • A. The United Nations Security Council
  • B. The International Atomic Energy Agency
  • C. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
  • D. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Q6. Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, how many states are recognized as nuclear-weapon states?

  • A. Three
  • B. Five
  • C. Seven
  • D. Nine

Q7. The 'Nine Eyes' intelligence-sharing grouping is formed by adding how many additional states to the core Five Eyes alliance?

  • A. Two
  • B. Three
  • C. Four
  • D. Five

Q8. In the context of intelligence-sharing arrangements, the term 'Five Eyes' most accurately refers to:

  • A. An intelligence-sharing alliance of five Anglophone states — the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — originating in the Second World War
  • B. A body of the five permanent UN Security Council members that oversees IAEA nuclear safeguards
  • C. The five parties that signed the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement
  • D. A joint satellite-reconnaissance network operated exclusively by the United States and South Korea