Pan-government task force launches talks with U.S. on highly enriched uranium and Spent Nuclear Fuel reprocessing

As a follow-up to the South Korea–United States summit, a pan-government task force has held its first meeting to discuss with the United States the issues of highly enriched uranium and Spent Nuclear Fuel reprocessing. The Interagency Consultative Body on ROK-U.S. Nuclear Cooperation convened its inaugural closed-door session on the 9th at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building on Sejong-daero in Seoul. The task force includes officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC), the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC).
The pan-government task force will be led by Im Gap-su, former ambassador to Romania and an expert in nuclear nonproliferation, who has been appointed as its head. Im previously served in 2016 as a nonproliferation specialist at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is widely regarded as an authority in nuclear energy and nonproliferation. The leaders of South Korea and the United States have already agreed, through two summits, to pursue follow-up consultations on civilian uranium enrichment and Spent Nuclear Fuel reprocessing.
According to the detailed explanatory document on last November’s South Korea–United States summit, titled the Joint Fact Sheet, the United States for the first time explicitly stated that it "supports" expanding South Korea’s authority over civilian uranium enrichment and reprocessing. However, for South Korea to actually secure such authority, the U.S.–Republic of Korea Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation must be revised and approved by the United States Congress (US Congress).
rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo Reporter