REUTERS
August 28, 2025 at 17:20 JST
People visit a beach near Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in Gyeongju, South Korea, August 21, 2022. (REUTERS)
SEOUL--South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Thursday that the U.S. and South Korea agreed to discuss nuclear fuel reprocessing following a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung this week.
“We operate 26 nuclear power plants, buying and bringing in fuel for them every time... We have been feeling the necessity of being able to reprocess it and to make our own fuel through concentrates,” Cho said in a live televised interview.
“In order to do this, cooperation with the U.S. is most important. We need to change the nuclear agreement or use another method under the agreement (between the countries). So it is very meaningful that we decided to begin discussions in that direction.”
South Korea is not allowed to reprocess spent nuclear fuel - which can be used to make nuclear weapons - without U.S. consent under an agreement between the countries.
Foreign Minister Cho has said previously that South Korea’s intention is for industrial and environmental purposes, not for nuclear armament.
Cho reiterated on Thursday that “any talk about wanting our own nuclear arms or having potential nuclear capabilities through revision (of the agreement) would be something that the U.S. could never accept in terms of overall nuclear non-proliferation.”
South Korea signs security agreement with Poland to boost economic and defense cooperation
March 6, 2025
US, South Korea and Japan urge stronger international push to curb North Korean nuclear program
December 9, 2023
What issues are likely to be discussed at the U.S.-South Korea summit?
August 25, 2025
INTERVIEW/ Cho Tae-yul: S. Korean foreign minister says bilateral ties 'essential'
March 21, 2025
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
