By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea and the United States are not likely to announce a new agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation this year, a high-ranking government official said Monday.
Despite four years of negotiations, the two sides have yet to reach an agreement to revise the 1974 Nuclear Energy Cooperation Pact. The pact was originally scheduled to expire in March this year, but was extended until March 2016.
“As we’ve seen in other negotiations, even if we make a lot of headway, we have to sort out some final tasks and resolving them is not necessarily easy,” the official said in a press conference in Washington D.C. “I think we’re at that stage with regard to the atomic energy pact.”
The official added that the quality of the agreement is more important than an early conclusion.
“We are making efforts to reach a balanced and future-oriented agreement,” he said.
Korea set year’s end as the deadline, given the time needed for domestic procedures, including National Assembly approval.
The current nuclear pact stipulates that Korea is forbidden from enriching uranium fuel and reprocessing spent plutonium.
Despite Seoul’s demands, Washington has failed to approve these due to proliferation concerns.
It is not known what specific areas Korea and the U.S. have failed to agree upon.
Meanwhile, an official at the U.S. State Department said a new agreement will address all of Korea’s top nuclear energy priorities.
“Our two countries are confident that a new agreement can greatly advance our bilateral cooperation and address Korea’s nuclear energy priorities of an assured fuel supply, spent fuel management, and competitiveness in the global nuclear energy market,” the official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News.
The official also said that the U.S. is pursuing an agreement that “reflects Korea’s status as a major global nuclear supplier.”
Korea is currently the fifth largest producer of nuclear energy in the world and plans to significantly expand its civil nuclear program by 2030.