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Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun (right) on Sept. 19 in an interview with the daily Hankyoreh said he reached a basic agreement with the U.S. to ease restrictions on uranium enrichment and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. He is shown on Sept. 14 with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs compound at Government Complex-Seoul in Seoul's Jongno-gu District (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
By Jeon Misun
Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun has announced a basic agreement with the U.S. on easing restrictions on Korea in uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
He said this in an interview conducted on Sept. 19 and released on Sept. 22 by the domestic daily Hankyoreh.
"The two countries have reached a tentative agreement to ease restrictions on uranium enrichment and reprocessing spent fuel, and this will be reflected in the final accord after tariff negotiations are concluded," he added.
"This is a significant step forward for both countries to agree on a basic direction allowing Korea to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel."
The 2015 revision of the bilateral Nuclear Cooperation Agreement requires Korea to consult with the U.S. before enriching uranium below 20% or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. At the time, both sides agreed on joint research on pyroprocessing, a form of reprocessing such fuel, but this failed to materialize since no high-level consultations were started.
msjeon22@korea.kr