US President Donald Trump and President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea increase their glasses for a toast throughout a banquet hosted by South Korea held on the Hilton Resort in Gyeongju on Oct. 29, 2025. (Yonhap)
Delays have arisen within the technique of drafting a doc on the end result of tariff and safety negotiations concluded at a South Korea-US summit on Oct. 29.
Whereas Seoul initially expressed confidence {that a} reality sheet reflecting the settlement consequence would emerge inside “a few days,” almost every week has passed by with none additional updates.
Authorities officers stated that whereas the drafting of the mandatory phrasing for a joint reality sheet announcement has been concluded, the announcement has been delayed pending closing confirmations by the US.
As not too long ago as final weekend, observers had been predicting the most probably date for the joint reality sheet announcement can be on Nov. 4. This ended up being postpone after a notification from Washington that an announcement wouldn’t be attainable.
Whereas the US said that the matter required discussions amongst authorities workplaces, the attitude from Seoul is that variations have emerged within the US administration over points referring to nuclear power.
On Wednesday, Minister of Nationwide Protection Ahn Gyu-back commented earlier than a plenary session of the Nationwide Meeting Nationwide Protection Committee on the explanation for the dearth of a joint assertion announcement following the 57th South Korea-US Safety Consultative Assembly a day earlier.
“The actual fact sheet has not been accomplished but,” he defined.
“It seems that there was a little bit of a delay as a result of numerous issues such because the nuclear-powered submarine and South Korea-US atomic power settlement points require coordination amongst US authorities workplaces,” he added.
Alongside related strains, Minister of Finance Koo Yun-cheol pressured, “The sheet for the economy-related areas is sort of full, and I anticipate that the very fact sheet will probably be collectively signed as soon as the security-related sheet is completed.”
Koo additionally stated he may “not say what [the timeline] can be as a result of the safety areas are at the moment below dialogue.”
Seoul is viewing the delay within the reality sheet’s announcement as being associated to newly included content material regarding nuclear-powered submarines and the modification of the 2 sides’ nuclear power settlement.
A authorities supply defined, “What we’ve heard from the US is that it is a matter involving numerous companies and that it’s going to take time to substantiate all of their positions.”
“Our understanding is that it is a matter concerning the brand new inclusions about nuclear-powered submarines and the related South Korea-US nuclear power settlement,” they added.
One other official stated the US was “throwing a last-minute match over the negotiations regarding nuclear power.”
In line with accounts from authorities sources, the safety reality sheet to be drafted after the summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump is about to incorporate new phrases regarding nuclear-powered submarines, which might necessitate some adjustments to the wording of the 2 sides’ settlement on the usage of nuclear power.
Whereas content material concerning the nuclear power pact was included in a reality sheet provisionally agreed upon by Seoul and Washington earlier than their summit in August, it didn’t include any reference to “modification” on the time. As an alternative, that safety reality sheet reportedly contained wording to the impact that the US acknowledged South Korea’s proper to as much as 20% uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent nuclear gas for analysis functions, contingent on US approval, together with an expression of dedication to increasing the 2 sides’ nuclear power cooperation.
However Lee’s request on Oct. 29 for the US to provide the mandatory gas to construct nuclear-powered submarines raised the necessity to both amend the prevailing settlement or set up a separate one.
The US has maintained a cautious place on the matter, as uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent nuclear gas characterize delicate applied sciences that may be diverted into army makes use of.
For now, the South Korean authorities’s place is that it’s working as a lot as attainable towards the discharge of a reality sheet earlier than the tip of the week.
By Website positioning Younger-ji, workers reporter
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