Why US-South Korea Nuclear Cooperation Has Stalled |
President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in the Oval Office in August 2025. The United States and South Korea had formalized a Joint Fact Sheet on nuclear energy, but implementation has stalled due to tariff tensions and proliferation concerns. (White House/Daniel Torok)
Why US-South Korea Nuclear Cooperation Has Stalled
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Tariff tensions, diverging priorities, and proliferation concerns are stalling US–South Korea nuclear cooperation, testing whether rhetoric can translate into real policy implementation.
South Korea’s National Security Chief Wi Sung-lac recently reported that discussions on strategic security issues—including nuclear-powered submarines, uranium enrichment, and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel—have stalled due to the collapse of tariff negotiations with the United States.
Wi’s remark highlights the current impasse in US-South Korea nuclear energy cooperation, which has yet to move from the discussion stage to actual policy implementation.
On February 14, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry announced that a US delegation—including officials from the National Security Council, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of State, and the Department of Defense—would visit Seoul in late February or early March.
Despite the confidence grounded in the long-standing alliance between the two countries, doubts about South Korea’s commitment to the nonproliferation regime, along with divergent strategic priorities, have contributed to the stalemate over South Korea’s pursuit of sensitive nuclear fuel-cycle capabilities.
APEC Summit and the US-South Korea Joint Fact Sheet
When South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump took office in 2025, they acknowledged the significance of nuclear energy for energy security, particularly in ensuring a stable power supply for future artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
Both countries possess complementary capabilities. Seoul’s nuclear strengths in Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Management (EPCM) can support Washington’s plan to expand nuclear capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050. In return, Washington can contribute to the further development of Seoul’s nuclear energy industry through reactor design expertise, nuclear fuel-cycle technology, patents, and advanced next-generation reactor capabilities.
Against this backdrop of shared energy security concerns and mutually complementary........