Opening Remarks
at the First Plenary Meeting
of the High Level Bilateral Commission

Good morning! I would like to welcome all of you to the First Plenary Meeting of the High Level Bilateral Commission. I am delighted to meet you again here in Seoul, Secretary Sherwood-Randall, only a month after our meeting in Washington, D.C., where we were able to officially launch the Commission despite your busy schedule for preparing the 4th Nuclear Security Summit. As the Summit ended with a great success, you must have left Washington, D.C. very light-hearted, which I am sure already guarantees another great success for this meeting.

Last year, after long and tough negotiations that lasted for over four years, we made a sweeping revision of the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement which was concluded forty two years ago. Our joint success is built upon many factors, but nothing can be compared to the strong commitment of our two Presidents to an ever evolving, dynamic and robust alliance. At the same time, it would be remiss of me if I failed to recognize the dedication of all of you present here today who have worked so hard together to overcome all hurdles standing in our way.

This new partnership of ours holds a special meaning for our future that goes far beyond the field of nuclear energy. The newly established Commission will showcase the bright future that our nuclear cooperation will bring about. We will be able to produce concrete benefits from peaceful uses of nuclear energy while upholding our non-proliferation commitments, and thereby prove that President Obama’s grand vision for “a world without nuclear weapons” is not only realizable but indeed the best choice for all.

The High Level Bilateral Commission marks the most salient, and also unprecedented, invention that captures the essence of our new mode of nuclear cooperation. While our cooperation under the previous Agreement was mostly carried out on a case-by-case basis with a focus on the technical aspects, the newly created Commission provides us with a comprehensive consultative body through which senior officials and experts of the two countries can table any relevant issues and suggestions for discussions.

The Commission is also designed to tackle the strategic and policy-oriented cooperation under the leadership of its Co-Chairs. As a result, we are now equipped with a much better platform to pool our wisdom and expertise, so that we can jointly proceed toward our common vision for the future as partners. This part is already a great progress compared to the previous Agreement.

As we now take our first step in the new partnership for nuclear cooperation, it is important to prove its value by embarking upon specific projects which would yield tangible results. Such concrete accomplishments will help nurture the public support for nuclear cooperation in both countries and increase the momentum for future cooperation. But, at the same time, we must always keep our long-term goals in mind. The Commission is a mechanism that will continue to evolve as long as the nuclear cooperation between our two countries continues. Therefore, we should also be able to identify and explore new areas of strategic cooperation that will serve our common interests, without being obsessed with quick, short-term results. These two contrasting demands have already been addressed by the four newly created Working Groups and are now reflected in the Terms of Reference and Work Plan. The scope of the works of the four Working Groups encompasses virtually all of the most important aspects of our nuclear cooperation. Let me briefly touch upon each of them.

The Spent Fuel Management Working Group is to handle the most urgent issues that all the nuclear energy-using countries are currently facing. Our two countries are already conducting a jointly funded project for which scientists from both sides are working together on research and development. I hope that this model of joint projects will be applied to research and development in other areas of nuclear energy as well. As for the joint project already in progress, we should prepare the ground for the Commission to make policy decisions based on its results in a timely manner.

The Assured Fuel Supply Working Group is to concentrate its work on ensuring a stable and reliable supply of nuclear fuel at all times for nuclear facilities of our two countries. Though the global fuel market appears stable at the moment, we must be prepared for all kinds of potential scenarios to ensure our energy security against possible future disruptions.

The Promotion of Nuclear Exports and Export Control Cooperation is the area in which the public of both countries has the highest expectations for the benefits to be provided by the new Agreement. Our industries are anticipating that the governments would come into play, as appropriate, as the global nuclear market is rapidly being taken up by foreign competitors. I hope that, working together in the new framework of cooperation, we could explore ways and means to help facilitate possible joint advance of our industries into the third markets newly considering the uses of nuclear energy. Given the proven technical prowess and excellent non-proliferation track-record, Korean companies could become perfect partners for such a joint venture for their counterparts in the U.S.

The Nuclear Security Working Group is to focus on the work to institutionalize what has been achieved in the process of the four Nuclear Security Summits concluded successfully earlier this month. I hope that Korea and the U.S. will identify the areas where the two countries can make concrete contributions and exercise leadership. Cyber security could be one area of such cooperation. As the chair country of the Ministerial Segment of the 2016 IAEA International Conference on Nuclear Security, Korea will continue to play an active role in this area, working closely together with the U.S.

To ensure our strategic cooperation in such diverse areas to be smooth and constructive, I believe that the mandate of the Commission should be as comprehensive and inclusive as it could be. The Commission should also be flexible in accommodating new issues and participants so as to reflect the evolving necessities as technology continues to advance and circumstances change over time. From time to time, we must also employ out-of-the-box thinking to attempt creative projects as well as carry on cross-cutting cooperation between the four Working Groups.

The nuclear cooperation that we will engineer together carries a significant weight for the Korea-U.S. alliance as well, because we are now forging a new partnership in the area of nuclear energy which has a great impact on our security and economic cooperation. What we are doing together in this new framework of nuclear cooperation is a testament to the “comprehensive and strategic alliance” between our two countries. I look forward to working closely with you to make this meeting an important milestone that opens a new chapter in the history of Korea-U.S. nuclear partnership.

Thank you. /END/