Foreign Minister Cho Hyun speaks during a plenary meeting of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in Seoul, Friday, explaining government measures to swiftly protect Korean citizens amid the Middle East crisis. Yonhap
Korean negotiators will travel to Washington for follow-up consultations with the United States on security agreements between the two allies, including cooperation related to possible adjustments to their bilateral nuclear energy pact, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Friday.
Cho made the remarks during a plenary session of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee when asked about the progress of follow-up discussions on bilateral security cooperation.
“The outbreak of war in the Middle East made further delays unavoidable,” Cho said. “After close consultations with the U.S. side, we agreed that our team would go to the United States first.”
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later clarified that the team currently being coordinated with Washington is not the full negotiating delegation for the broader security package, which includes issues such as nuclear-powered submarines.
According to the ministry spokesperson’s office, the delegation expected to visit the United States will instead be a working-level team led by Ambassador Rim Kap-soo. The visit will focus on consultations with a bilateral task force examining issues related to uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel under the civil nuclear cooperation framework.
“Officials from both sides are maintaining close communication, and we are currently coordinating the specific dates for our delegation’s visit to Washington,” the ministry said. “When our team visits the United States, preliminary exchanges of views will take place to prepare for the negotiations.”
The consultations stem from security-related commitments outlined in a joint fact sheet released in November following a summit between the leaders of Korea and the United States on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Gyeongju.
During that meeting, the two allies agreed to expand cooperation in advanced defense capabilities and the peaceful use of nuclear energy, including the establishment of working-level consultations on issues related to nuclear propulsion and the future of the Korea-U.S. civil nuclear agreement.
The agreement also included plans to launch a bilateral task force to explore ways to enhance cooperation under the existing civil nuclear framework, including the management of spent nuclear fuel and potential adjustments to restrictions on uranium enrichment and reprocessing.
Source: Korea Times News
