Seoul: South Korea’s National Security Advisor Wi Sung-lac met with visiting US Under Secretary of State Allison Hooker on Tuesday, welcoming the launch of follow-up negotiations on an agreement reached by their countries’ leaders last year.
“We hope that two days of productive talks will help accelerate progress on the matter,” Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.
“Both sides reaffirmed the ROK-US alliance as a central pillar of peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific, and pledged to maintain close dialogue and cooperation on regional developments, including on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East,” it added, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The two are also believed to have discussed a range of pending issues, including Seoul’s push to secure greater authority to enrich uranium, to reprocess spent nuclear fuel for peaceful uses, and to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
The talks could also cover the allies’ plan to transfer wartime operational control of South Korean troops from Washington to Seoul.
Leading a US delegation, Hooker arrived in South Korea on Monday as the allies are set to begin follow-up talks on an agreement reached by President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump in October on Seoul’s plan to build nuclear-powered submarines.
The two sides are expected to discuss uranium reprocessing Wednesday.
Meanwhile, South Korea and the United States launched new high-profile talks on Tuesday to discuss the implementation of security agreements reached by their leaders, including Seoul’s push to acquire nuclear-powered conventionally armed submarines.
The first day of the two-day inaugural talks focused on security-related provisions laid out in a bilateral joint fact sheet issued following a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump in October, according to the South Korean foreign ministry.
“The meeting carries significance in that long-delayed security consultations have finally begun and are back on track,” foreign ministry spokesperson Park Il said at a press briefing.
“Cooperation and partnership between South Korea and the US in the nuclear sector will help deepen and broaden the bilateral alliance,” he added, stressing the government’s commitment to fully implementing the agreed-upon issues.
On the first day of the talks, the two sides reportedly focused on issues related to Seoul’s push to build nuclear-powered submarines, which has been prohibited under a bilateral nuclear pact between Seoul and Washington.
On Wednesday, they are expected to focus their discussions on other security issues, such as Seoul’s uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing capabilities, which are largely needed to supply fuel for its envisioned nuclear-powered submarines.
Other agenda items for the new security talks include the expansion of shipbuilding cooperation between South Korea and the US.
The joint fact sheet, published in November, outlines a range of commitments by both sides, including cooperation in the nuclear sector and other security-related issues, as well as Seoul’s pledge to invest USD 350 billion in the US in exchange for a reduced US tariff rate.
First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo led the South Korean delegation, which included officials from the presidential office, as well as the defence, science and industry ministries.
The US delegation was led by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker and included Ivan Kanapathy, senior director for Asia at the National Security Council (NSC), Matthew Napoli, deputy administrator for defence nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, and other officials from the Department of Energy and related agencies.
(IANS)
