S. Korea to Kick Off U.S. Talks on Revising Nuclear Energy Agreement
(MENAFN) South Korea will soon initiate discussions with the United States to revise the terms of their bilateral nuclear energy agreement, aiming to secure greater flexibility in the handling of spent nuclear fuel and uranium enrichment for civilian purposes, officials announced.
The existing 123 Agreement between the two countries currently restricts South Korea to limited reprocessing of spent fuel and uranium enrichment below 20%, all of which requires US approval, according to media.
Seoul has long sought to renegotiate this pact, hoping to gain the ability to reprocess spent fuel and enrich uranium to create its own nuclear fuel for civilian energy use.
"We operate 26 commercial nuclear reactors. There's no other country with this level of nuclear energy capacity that relies entirely on imported fuel," Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said in an interview with media.
He emphasized that South Korea has "strongly" advocated for these changes, noting, "That has been accepted, and we plan to begin negotiations soon."
However, the US has expressed caution about relaxing the restrictions, primarily due to concerns over nuclear proliferation.
In addition, Cho clarified that there is no fixed timeline for finalizing the $350 billion investment deal between South Korea and the US. This agreement, which is linked to a reduction in reciprocal tariffs on South Korean goods from 25% to 15%, remains in negotiation.
"It's not that we should set a strict deadline for this," Cho said. "As President Lee Jae Myung has stated, our approach should prioritize the national interest and be based on commercial rationality."
"If those conditions are not fully met, we can take more time to continue the negotiations," he added.
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