On the 15th (local time), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) designated South Korea as a 'sensitive country' for management.
Earlier, in January during the Biden administration, the DOE added South Korea as an 'Other Designated Country' to the Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List (SCL). According to multiple diplomatic sources, this measure has not been postponed or changed to date, and it is considered to take effect on the 15th local time in the U.S.
The SCL is an internal regulation of the DOE and is not officially disclosed to the public.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official noted, 'Since it is originally a list that is not disclosed, we consider it effective unless notified that it has been lifted. We have not heard that we are being omitted and think it will be applied as scheduled.'
On the same day, our government emphasized, 'We are continuing active negotiations with the U.S. DOE and conducting working-level consultations with the Director General, and we reaffirmed that this will not affect the upcoming South Korea-U.S. research and development cooperation.'
However, there are concerns that the U.S. has restrictions on research cooperation and technology sharing with countries included in the SCL, which may impact future collaboration in the field of science and technology.
The U.S. has not disclosed the specific reasons for designating South Korea as a sensitive country, while discussions of domestic nuclear armament and political instability due to the 12.3 emergency martial law have been raised.