By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – South Korea and the United States on Monday said that they are discussing the idea of launching a summit on nuclear energy pact between the two nations, a source said and quoted in media as Seoul seeks to ease restrictions, including on spent fuel reprocessing.
The source said that both Seoul and Washington have been coordinating over the issue, as President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump are set to hold their first in-person meeting at the White House on Monday with a range of security and trade issues to be featured in the high-stakes summit, media reported.
It said that if both sides agreed, the two governments could include in a joint summit document an agreement to open discussions and research on a possible amendment to the pact, or leaders could make a public mention of the agreement to make it official.
Media reported that the pact, known as the “123 Agreement,” was revised in 2015 which bans Seoul from reprocessing and uranium enrichment.
It opened the way for South Korea to begin research into a new technology for spent nuclear fuel recycling, known as “pyroprocessing,” in addition to make low-level enriched uranium under US consent.
The current pact is valid through 2035, but Seoul has shown its desire to amend it.
South Korea has long hoped to secure uranium enrichment and reprocessing capabilities to complete the nuclear fuel cycle, as it views these capabilities as crucial to addressing its energy security and environmental concerns, and enhancing its status as a capable nuclear reactor exporter.
Washington has been cautious against lifting restrictions in the pact due largely to proliferation concerns, given that a reprocessing facility can be utilized to extract plutonium used to build nuclear weapons.
Japan unlike South Korea, has a reprocessing right under a bilateral pact with the US.
It is uncertain whether the Trump administration would warm to that idea even if discussions on a revision get under way, media stated.
Seoul’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac pointed out that Seoul has long been making efforts toward revising the pact.
“Our hope is that we will make progress (in the effort to revise the pact) through this summit,” he added.
