WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette hosted the Republic of Korea (ROK) Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun for the plenary meeting of the U.S.-ROK High Level Bilateral Commission (HLBC).  This was the second plenary meeting of the HLBC since its creation in 2016. 

During their discussions, Deputy Secretary Brouillette and Vice Foreign Minister Cho discussed the management of spent nuclear fuel, reliability in the nuclear fuel market, exports and export control cooperation, and nuclear security and non-proliferation. They also agreed upon future joint technical activities in each of these areas.

“I was honored to host Vice Foreign Minister Cho today to continue discussions and the close, decades-long relationship between the U.S. and the ROK in the area of civil nuclear energy,” said Deputy Secretary Brouillette. “The issues we discussed remain critical to advancement of civil nuclear energy and nuclear nonproliferation in our respective countries and around the world. I look forward to further strengthening our longstanding relationship with the ROK in these matters.”

Vice Minister Cho echoed Deputy Secretary Brouillette and said, "the ROK values our nuclear cooperation as the essence of the ROK-U.S. alliance and hopes to continue joint efforts based on mutual trust and accumulated experiences of collaboration."

Established pursuant to the terms of the 2015 U.S.-ROK Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, the HLBC serves as a formal mechanism for senior U.S. and ROK officials to meet and discuss the most important issues pertaining to the civil nuclear relationship. 

Today’s meeting reaffirmed the two countries’ robust commitment to pursuing the comprehensive, strategic partnership pursuant to the new bilateral “Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.”

Participants from the U.S. included senior officials from the Department of Energy, the Department of State, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Security Council. The ROK delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and experts from relevant organizations.