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South Korea and the United States have agreed to pursue a separate agreement to formalize Seoul’s right to build nuclear-powered submarines and working-level talks will begin early next year, the Asian country’s national security adviser said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after a visit to Washington, Wai Sung-lak said he discussed the issue and other security arrangements with senior officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
His visit was aimed at accelerating the implementation of commitments outlined in a joint fact sheet issued after a summit between Presidents Lee Jae Myung and Donald Trump in October, which included cooperation on enriched uranium, spent-fuel reprocessing and nuclear-powered submarines.
“We agreed that a separate agreement for nuclear submarine cooperation is necessary and we have decided to pursue it,” Wai told a briefing.
South Korea wants to equip submarines with reactors using low-enriched fuel at or below the 20% level, and has no plans to switch to highly enriched uranium, he said, adding that he highlighted Lee’s commitment to nonproliferation.
An executive-level US delegation is likely to visit Seoul early next year to hammer out the agreements listed in the joint fact sheet, and the two sides will set some milestones for a performance review late next year, Wi said.
South Korea is largely banned from enriching uranium under its civilian nuclear energy agreement with the United States. Wi said Seoul was looking at the case of Australia where it had obtained exemptions through a standalone agreement with Washington, allowing Canberra to sign AUKUS agreements with the US and Britain in 2021.
Seoul’s defense minister has said he aims to conclude talks with the US within two years to ensure arrangements for the supply of nuclear fuel.
Wi also said he and his US counterparts possibly explored ways to revive dialogue with North Korea around the first half of next year, though he was not targeting specific diplomatic opportunities.
He said, “We are considering various opportunities and will not rule out any opportunity to engage with North Korea. I will not go into specific details, but if there are any opportunities next year, we will try to use them.”
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
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