Seoul: South Korea and the United States have agreed to pursue a stand-alone agreement on cooperation regarding nuclear-powered submarines, with working-level talks anticipated to commence early next year, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac announced.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Wi made these statements following his return from a weeklong trip to the United States, Canada, and Japan. During his visit to Washington, he conducted meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser, as well as U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. These meetings involved "practical and in-depth consultations" concerning security agreements included in a joint fact sheet released last month after a summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju.

Wi emphasized the necessity of a stand-alone agreement on cooperation over nuclear-powered submarines and stated that both nations agreed to advance discussions on this matter. He also reaffirmed South Korea's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation during talks about uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. South Korea intends to secure low-enriched uranium below 20 percent for submarine fuel, explicitly excluding highly enriched uranium from consideration.

A working-level U.S. delegation is expected to visit South Korea early next year to hold consultations on implementing the agreements detailed in the joint fact sheet. Under the current bilateral nuclear accord with the United States, South Korea is mostly prohibited from enriching its own uranium and must import all of its low-enriched uranium.