Korea, U.S. agree on timeline for talks on nuclear-powered submarines and nuclear energy
2026.06.03 19:07
The first round of talks to discuss Korea's goal to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, included in the joint fact sheet agreed upon by the leaders of the two countries in November 2025, wrapped on Wednesday. The two sides plan to hold a second round of talks in Washington as early as next month.
“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.
During the two-day meeting in Seoul that began on Tuesday, the two countries discussed a negotiation timeline that included a broad direction for implementing agreements. The talks effectively institutionalized regular working-level consultations aimed at producing tangible results within the year.
As the next round of talks may take place in Washington as early as next month, the Korean government aims to produce concrete outcomes before the U.S. midterm elections in November, which officials see as an important window for producing concrete outcomes.
“It is difficult to set a specific timeline, but we are trying to move as quickly as possible to produce results,” a senior ruling party official said. “The U.S. side is also committed to swift implementation.”
The two-day talks began with an introductory session led by First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker. Sector-specific consultations followed with governmentwide delegations, led by Korea's Office of National Security and the White House's National Security Council (NSC).
On the second day of meetings, the Korean delegation focused on expanding Seoul's right to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for civilian and commercial use.
At the center of the discussions was whether and how to revise the current Korea-U. S. nuclear cooperation agreement, which expires in 2035. Under the existing agreement, Korea must obtain written consent from the United States through bilateral consultations every time it seeks to enrich uranium below 20 percent.
The Korean government hopes to secure broader rights through a partial or full revision of the agreement.
“This is an issue that would require the United States to give up some of the nonproliferation leverage it has maintained, making the negotiations considerably more difficult,” a government official said.
The first day of talks focused on the nuclear-powered submarine program and nuclear fuel procurement.
Where the submarines would be built had been expected to emerge as a major point of contention, but the U.S. side reportedly did not raise significant objections.
“The discussions have largely settled on the [Korean] government's position of building the vessels in Korea while importing only the nuclear fuel,” a ruling party official said on condition of anonymity.
The atmosphere during the two-day negotiations, which took a total of six hours, was reportedly smooth.
"We will work closely together to faithfully and promptly implement the commitments made by our two presidents last fall, and to further upgrade our alliance," Cho wrote on X after a breakfast meeting with Hooker on Wednesday.
Cho later made an unannounced visit to Seohee Hall in the Foreign Ministry building, where the two delegations were having lunch, and encouraged the two sides to produce tangible results. Members of the U.S. delegation reportedly expressed particular appreciation for the visit.
Hooker also wrote on X that her meeting with Cho also touched upon the partnership of the two countries on broader issues.
“During our meeting, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and I reflected on the importance of preserving our vibrant democracies — especially relevant as today is Election Day in South Korea. We also discussed our partnership on regional and global issues ranging from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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