ISTANBUL

South Korea will soon start talks to revise their bilateral nuclear energy pact with the US, seeking more flexibility in handling spent fuel and enriching uranium for civilian energy, Seoul said.

Under the 123 Agreement, South Korea can carry out only limited spent fuel reprocessing and uranium enrichment below 20%, with US approval, according to Yonhap News.

Seoul has been seeking to renegotiate the deal to be able to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and enrich uranium to produce its own nuclear fuel for civilian energy purposes.

"We operate 26 commercial nuclear reactors. There's no other country with this level of nuclear energy capacity that relies entirely on imported fuel," Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told MBC Radio.

Cho said Seoul has "strongly" stressed the need for the change.

"That has been accepted, and we plan to begin negotiations soon," he added.

The US remains cautious on lifting restrictions in the pact due largely to nuclear proliferation concerns.

Cho also stated that there is no set timeline for concluding talks on the final agreement for South Korea’s $350 billion investment package in the US, which was pledged in exchange for Washington reducing the reciprocal tariff on South Korean goods from 25% to 15%.

"It's not that we should set a strict deadline for this," he said. "As President Lee Jae Myung has stated, our approach should prioritize the national interest and be based on commercial rationality."

"If those conditions are not fully met, we can take more time to continue the negotiations," Cho said.