US, South Korea Discuss Nuclear Submarine, Fuel Reprocessing Timelines

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States on Wednesday discussed the timeline for follow-up talks on Seoul's push for nuclear-powered submarines and its bid to secure the right to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes.

The talks -- the second and final day of a meeting that began Tuesday -- were part of efforts to advance agreements reached at an October summit between the leaders of the two countries last year.

Under the joint fact sheet, the U.S. committed to supporting processes that would lead to uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing for civilian use, as well as Seoul's push to build conventionally armed nuclear-propelled submarines.

The U.S. delegation, led by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, arrived in Seoul on Monday for the talks.

Also accompanying her were Ivan Kanapathy, senior director for Asia at the National Security Council (NSC), and Matthew Napoli, deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, among other officials.

"The two sides agreed to work together to produce tangible results in a swift manner and to establish a mechanism to review progress and speed up consultations going forward," the foreign ministry said in a release.

A Seoul official said the talks included discussions on a potential timeline and broad directions for follow-up consultations.

The allies reportedly plan to hold the next round of talks in Washington as early as next month.

Wednesday's talks likely centered on the issue of allowing Seoul to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for civilian purposes, which would require revising the allies' 2015 nuclear energy cooperation pact.

The existing agreement bars South Korea from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel unless it obtains U.S. consent through consultations and in writing.

Seoul is reportedly seeking to revise the pact, known as the 123 Agreement, in a way that would help secure "advance consent" from the U.S. -- a preapproved and long-term permission.

Working-level discussions on these issues were expected to be the focus of Wednesday's meeting, with officials from South Korea's National Security Office and the NSC likely leading the talks.

The allies discussed the nuclear-powered submarine program Tuesday.

In a social media post Wednesday, Hooker said she "discussed working closely to make progress on bilateral nuclear cooperation" during her meeting with National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac on Tuesday.

"We also covered a wide range of issues that underscored economic security is national security," she said on X.

The security talks took place months later than expected as Seoul's legislative process for a planned US$350 billion investment in the U.S. -- another key element of the summit agreement -- had been delayed.

Growing U.S. concerns over what Washington views as discriminatory treatment of U.S.-listed e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. in South Korea have also been cited as factors behind slow progress in the security talks.