Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Sovereign Rights with the Context of Republic of Korea-United States (ROK-US) Partnership

South Korea has been the world's sixth-largest producer of nuclear energy, with twenty nuclear power reactors supplying about 40% of a country's electricity. The Republic of KoreaUnited States (ROK-US) partnership has enabled South Korea's nuclear power growth. In 1972, the Atomic Energy Treaty was signed under the provisions of the agreement, the United States supplied nuclear technology and materials required for the development of nuclear energy; in exchange, South Korea was explicitly banned from proliferation-related operations such as used fuel reprocessing as well as uranium refinement. The two countries are expected to extend their nuclear cooperation agreement by 2014, amid three decades of fruitful collaboration. Negotiations among Seoul and Washington on a new agreement, on the other hand, may be a source of friction and disagreement. South Korea's desire for a full fuel-cycle capability, in particular, may directly clash with President Obama's demand for a world free of nuclear arms and United States (US) worries about nuclear weaponry. The bilateral talks between the US and the Republic of Korea will have significant consequences for the worldwide nonproliferation system as well as security in the region. The problems and challenges of renewing the ROK-US relationship are discussed in this article. The agreement on atomic energy is discussed, as well as the policy implications for the ROK-US relationship.