South Korea and the United States are said to have reaffirmed South Korea's commitment to nuclear nonproliferation in follow-up consultations on security matters agreed at last October's summit. The two sides are understood to have discussed future plans for uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing during the meeting. The two countries are expected to resume their second working-level consultations as early as next month.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 3rd that the follow-up consultations related to nuclear cooperation under the ROK-U.S. summit Joint Fact Sheet (joint explanatory material), held at the Government Complex-Seoul, had concluded. Over two days from the 2nd, the two sides discussed ways to implement the security-related agreements contained in the fact sheet.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated after concluding the meeting that "The two sides agreed to cooperate to deliver tangible outcomes as soon as possible," and that "They agreed to establish a mechanism to review progress throughout the year and to accelerate future consultations."

At the meeting, South Korea and the United States are said to have reaffirmed South Korea's commitment to nuclear nonproliferation. Earlier, on the 26th of last month, the government announced a basic plan for nuclear-powered submarines and stated, "The Republic of Korea does not possess any form of nuclear weapon and has a firm position that it will not develop nuclear weapons."

The U.S. side reportedly asked the South Korean government about specific implementation plans related to uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing during the meeting. Under the ROK-U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement revised in 2015, even for peaceful civilian purposes, low-enriched uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing are in principle prohibited without prior U.S. consent. The South Korean negotiating team is said to plan to elaborate related plans going forward and share them with the U.S. side.

Some economic and trade issues, including investment in the United States, were also reportedly raised at this meeting. Security consultations between South Korea and the United States had been delayed for more than five months as they became intertwined with economic and trade issues. At a meeting with First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Yoon-joo on the 19th of last month (local time) in Washington, DC, Hooker also emphasized the need to ensure fair treatment for American companies and to swiftly remove market access barriers.

The two countries appear likely to meet as early as next month in Washington, DC, among other locations in the United States, to resume the second working-level consultations. After the meeting, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters, "In this first meeting, we discussed a timeline that contains a general direction for implementing the agreements," adding, "Since this is a matter agreed upon by the ROK and U.S. leaders, both sides confirmed a shared understanding to implement it swiftly."