South Korea’s nuclear fuel goal stirs fears of atomic weapons development

Ambassador Cho Hyun-dong, Seoul’s top envoy to Washington, raised eyebrows last week when he said his country would persuade the United States to allow South Korea to build and operate facilities to reprocess spent nuclear fuel.

“We will regard that as a priority that we will push for after a new US government takes office,” Cho said.

The proposed operations can produce fuel for nuclear power plants and nuclear-powered submarines. But the fuel can also be used potentially to build nuclear weapons in South Korea by extracting fissile material, according to analysts.

To secure reprocessing facilities, South Korea needs to revise a 1976 nuclear energy cooperation pact with Washington, under which Seoul is barred from gaining access to such facilities due to proliferation concerns.

The ambassador, however, stressed that Seoul would stick to its current stance against seeking any nuclear option for national security.