Year
2019
Abstract
The Republic of Korea’s desire for energy security had a significant effect on its willingness to commit and adhere to nonproliferation policies during the 1970s as part of nuclear cooperation with the United States and others. As South Korea built a domestic nuclear industry to support its commercial nuclear activities, it became less susceptible to U.S. influence. South Korea’s desire to continue advancing its nuclear technical capability and improving the prospects for both domestic and international deployment of South Korean nuclear technology will be constrained by nonproliferation considerations going forward, but the U.S. is also likely to have to be more flexible than it has been in the past if it wants to maintain its working relationship with South Korean scientists and policy makers on this issue. This paper will explore the changing nature of U.S.-ROK nuclear energy cooperation and how nonproliferation considerations are likely to play a role in the relationship in the future. The evolution of U.S.-ROK nuclear energy cooperation holds many lessons for how such cooperation can and cannot contribute to global nonproliferation—lessons that U.S. policy makers ought to heed as the United States adjusts to its new, diminished role in the global nuclear marketplace.