ROK-U.S. Talks on Nuclear-Powered Submarines, Uranium Enrichment and Reprocessing to Be Held Next Week; U.S. Delegation to Visit Seoul

[Financial News] Follow-up talks on key security issues agreed upon by the leaders of South Korea and the United States, including nuclear-powered submarines, uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, will begin next week.
South Korea and the United States will hold an inaugural meeting in Seoul on Oct. 2-3 to discuss follow-up measures in the security section of the Joint Fact Sheet from the Korea-U. S. Summit.
For the meeting, a whole-of-government U. S. delegation led by Allison Hooker, undersecretary of state for political affairs, will visit Seoul. The delegation will also include officials from the White House National Security Council (NSC), the U.
S. Department of State, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the United States Department of Defense (DoD). The South Korean delegation will include Park Yoon-joo, first vice foreign minister, as well as officials from the presidential office's national security office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Climate and Energy, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC). In the case of building a South Korean nuclear-powered submarine, the government recently said it plans to consult with the United States on supplying low-enriched nuclear fuel, while building the hull and reactor in South Korea.
By contrast, U. S. President Donald Trump has said he wanted nuclear-powered submarines to be built at the Philadelphia Shipyard.
The South Korean government is also seeking expanded authority to enrich uranium and permission to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, which is already at capacity. In the long term, this is directly linked not only to securing a domestic supply of fuel for nuclear-powered submarines, but also to resolving long-standing issues for the Korean nuclear industry. The fact sheet said the United States supports civilian uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing procedures for peaceful purposes in South Korea, as long as they are consistent with the ROK-U.
S. Nuclear Cooperation Agreement and comply with U. S.legal requirements. 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and to purchase U. S.defense equipment. President Lee Jae-myung listens to Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back's report on the basic plan for developing a nuclear-powered submarine at the first Future Defense Strategy Committee meeting held on Oct. 26 in Jinhae-gu, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.defense equipment. President Lee Jae-myung listens to Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back's report on the basic plan for developing a nuclear-powered submarine at the first Future Defense Strategy Committee meeting held on Oct. 26 in Jinhae-gu, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo Reporter