- South Korea establishes a pan-government team to prepare for nuclear talks with the U.S.
- Chaired by Rim Kap-soo, the task force includes multiple ministries and nuclear agencies
- Talks aim to expand South Korea’s civil nuclear capabilities beyond current limits under the 2015 pact
Recently, the South Korean government made public the establishment of a pan-governmental task force before the nuclear energy discussions with the United States, which would be mainly about uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel for peace.
Rim Kap-soo, the U.S.-Korea nuclear cooperation representative of Korea, presided over the first meeting, which involved officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The meeting also saw the participation of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control representatives.
Rim, who has served as a Romanian ambassador as well as a nonproliferation expert at the International Atomic Energy Agency, is a highly respected authority in both nuclear energy and nonproliferation issues.
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The secret meeting was all about the different organizations' functions and the challenges they might face in the upcoming consultations with Washington. This task force was established in the wake of a Korea-U.S. joint fact sheet that was made public in November 2025, which stated that the U.S. was willing to support South Korea's civil uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing capabilities for peaceful purposes.
The pact was based on the talks that took place during the two summits of President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump in August and October 2025.
Currently under the 2015 bilateral nuclear treaty, South Korea is permitted to enrich uranium up to a maximum of 20% and is prohibited from reprocessing spent fuel without U.S. consent. However, analysts see the pact being modified in such a way as to give more authority to South Korea using the joint fact sheet as a guide.
Even though a specific timeline has not yet been given, there are some experts who believe that the resolution of this matter could happen before the midterm elections in the U.S. scheduled for November, on the grounds of apprehension regarding possible shifts in U.S. policy momentum.