'Nuclear Submarine and Nuclear Power' U.S. Delegation to Visit Korea Next Week...Delayed First Step Seven Months After Leaders' Agreement

Allison Hooker, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, to Lead Delegation to Seoul for Two-Day Talks Early Next Month

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun: "We Will Accelerate Enrichment, Reprocessing, Nuclear Submarines, and Shipbuilding"

The South Korea-U.S. security talks, aimed at discussing the expansion of authority over nuclear-powered submarines (nuclear subs), uranium enrichment, and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, will finally take their first step next week. This comes about seven months after the two countries' leaders reached an agreement in October last year.

On May 29, diplomatic authorities from South Korea and the United States announced that an inaugural meeting will be held in Seoul on June 2-3 to discuss follow-up security measures under the Joint Fact Sheet (JFS) released at the South Korea-U.S. summit. South Korea's delegation will be led by First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Yoon-joo and will include representatives from the Presidential National Security Office (NSC), as well as the ministries of Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Climate, Energy and Environment, Science and ICT, Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

The U.S. delegation will be headed by Allison Hooker, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and will consist of officials from the White House NSC, the Departments of State, Energy, and Defense, among others. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the purpose of the visit is to "advance the nuclear cooperation initiatives that emerged from President Donald Trump's visit to South Korea," adding, "We will consult on a wide range of bilateral and global issues to strengthen the broad and enduring alliance between the United States and South Korea, including security and economic cooperation."

Last October, U.S. President Donald Trump and President Lee Jae-myung shook hands at the Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongbuk. Photo by the Presidential Office via Yonhap News Agency

Despite the decisive agreement between the two leaders, the South Korea-U.S. security talks have been delayed for more than half a year due to economic issues such as tariffs, Coupang, and the Online Platform Act taking priority. The government has made it clear that it intends to expedite the process to achieve practical progress as soon as possible. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency the previous day, "Once the formal negotiations begin, we will proceed as quickly as possible," adding, "We aim to revise the nuclear cooperation agreement as soon as possible to allow us to undertake enrichment and reprocessing, accelerate progress on nuclear submarines, and speed up cooperation in shipbuilding as well."

The nuclear cooperation agreement between South Korea and the United States is limited to "peaceful use," meaning it covers only civilian commercial purposes, so a separate agreement is likely required to secure nuclear submarine fuel for military purposes. On this issue, Minister Cho stated, "There is precedent, so it is not particularly difficult, and I do not foresee major problems." He added, "Nonproliferation advocates in the United States do not seem to hold a particularly critical stance toward us. Because South Korea is among the world's leading trading nations, they believe we are not foolish enough to pursue independent nuclear armament." He further commented, "Given the substantial advancement of our conventional military capabilities, it does not appear that they assess us as seeking to acquire nuclear weapons."

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