Gov’t launches consultative body on uranium, nuclear rights ahead of U.S. negotiations

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds an interagency meeting and officially launches the South Korea-U.S. Interagency Nuclear Cooperation Task Force aimed at securing enrichment and reprocessing capabilities for peaceful and commercial purposes, on Jan. 9. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

 
A government consultative body was launched on Friday to prepare for negotiations with the United States over expanded rights for uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel reprocessing.
 
While Korea is accelerating efforts to build a unified government-wide negotiating posture and strategy toward Washington, it remains unclear how receptive the United States will be.
 
 
The first meeting of the Korea-U.S. Nuclear Cooperation Task Force, chaired by government representative Rim Kap-soo, was attended by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control.
 
Participants reviewed key issues and tasks related to enrichment and reprocessing, checked the division of roles and interagency cooperation frameworks and exchanged views on response directions and plans for consultations with the United States, according to the Foreign Ministry.
 
The ministry added that it plans to hold regular task force meetings at the director-general level and working-level consultations to review major enrichment and reprocessing issues in stages while pursuing a pan-government response to help create domestic and international conditions for securing enrichment and reprocessing capabilities for peaceful and commercial purposes.
 
Rim is considered an expert in nuclear energy and nonproliferation, having served as a nonproliferation specialist at the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2016. He joined the Foreign Ministry in 1996 through the 29th foreign service examination and has since served as minister-counselor at Korea’s mission to the United Nations. He has also worked as director-general for UN affairs at the ministry.
 
Rim is well-versed in sanctions policy, having authored books on the topic. During the Moon Jae-in administration, while serving as head of the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau, he was responsible for communication with Washington on key issues such as a declaration to end the Korean War. As such, he has firsthand experience dealing directly with officials from the Trump administration. Rim later served as Korea’s ambassador to Romania from February 2022 before stepping down and returning to Korea upon his appointment as chief nuclear negotiator.
 

Rim Kap-soo, the government representative for South Korea-U.S. nuclear cooperation, chairs a meeting of the South Korea-U.S. Interagency Nuclear Cooperation Task Force on Jan. 9. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

 
Separately from the government task force, the Foreign Ministry formed an internal task force on Jan. 5 to support Rim’s work. That group includes Rim and three working-level officials from the ministry’s international atomic energy bureau.
 
The joint fact sheet released in November following the Korea-U.S. summit meetings held in August and October last year stated that “the United States supports procedures that would lead to civilian uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing for peaceful use by the Republic of Korea, consistent with the U.S.-ROK Agreement for Cooperation and within the scope of U.S. legal requirements.”
 
The wording was interpreted as the first time Washington had formally documented the possibility of supporting Korea’s autonomous completion of the nuclear fuel cycle. However, the government believes that realizing this language would require revisions to the current bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement — underscoring that the United States still holds the upper hand.
 
Under the existing agreement, uranium enrichment is allowed only “up to less than 20 percent pursuant to a written agreement following consultations of the bilateral high-level commission,” while reprocessing is permitted “only if agreed to in writing by the parties.” To date, Korea has never requested uranium enrichment nor held consultations with the United States on the matter, and reprocessing has effectively been regarded as prohibited.
 
President Lee Jae Myung said at a foreign press conference in December that U.S. President Donald Trump had “proposed that Korea produce enriched uranium domestically and enter into a ‘50-50 partnership’ on the issue” — the first time such remarks were publicly disclosed.
 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds an interagency meeting and officially launches the South Korea-U.S. Interagency Nuclear Cooperation Task Force aimed at securing enrichment and reprocessing capabilities for peaceful and commercial purposes, on Jan. 9. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

 
Lee added that Trump had tasked U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick with overseeing the partnership. Trump’s approach — viewing enrichment and reprocessing through the lens of economic interests and “joint business” — could thus emerge as a key variable.
 
Lutnick, however, was also a figure who actively pushed back against including enrichment and reprocessing language in the joint fact sheet prior to its finalization, citing nonproliferation concerns. In fact, principled nonproliferation advocates remain the mainstream view within Washington policy circles.
 
This is why analysts say there is still a long road ahead before Korea can secure a level of “comprehensive consent” comparable to Japan’s — allowing it to conduct nuclear fuel cycle activities independently within an agreed framework without case-by-case U.S. approval.
 
The government’s decision to appoint a negotiating chief early and activate both a pan-government task force and a Foreign Ministry task force reflects this reality, as it seeks to accelerate preparatory efforts to persuade Washington. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Dec. 22 that Seoul aims to “push forward discussions next year to reach agreements as soon as possible on issues such as nuclear-powered submarines and uranium enrichment.”
 

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK HYUN-JU [[email protected]]