Minister Ahn Duk-geun of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will visit the United States again this week. Minister Ahn is expected to discuss energy cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and request that South Korea be removed from the "Sensitive Country List (SCL)."
According to the government on the 17th, Minister Ahn is coordinating the schedule for a meeting with Secretary Wright. It is reported that major energy issues will be discussed during the meeting, including oil and gas development in Alaska and nuclear cooperation.
Earlier, Minister Ahn visited the United States from the 26th to the 28th of last month, where he met with Commerce Secretary Howard Ruttan and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamison Greer to convey South Korea's position regarding the U.S. tariff plans and discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
This visit to the U.S. is being pursued to meet with Secretary Wright, with whom Minister Ahn could not meet last month due to scheduling issues. However, concerns have arisen as it was recently confirmed that the U.S. government included South Korea in the Sensitive Country List in January.
A Sensitive Country is a country that poses a threat to U.S. security and is subject to special management, designated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). North Korea and Iran have been designated as terrorist states at the top level, while China, Russia, and India are included in the general list.
If included in the Sensitive Country List before the 15th of next month when the effectiveness takes place, the sharing of advanced technologies related to national security, such as nuclear energy, could be restricted. Additionally, research cooperation, personnel exchanges, and participation in joint projects could become difficult.
The government plans to use the cooperation in Alaska's gas development project that President Donald Trump recently mentioned in a congressional speech or cooperation in the nuclear power sector as leverage for discussion during this schedule.
However, concerns are being raised that it may be difficult to achieve effective South Korea-U.S. consultations as the government has not yet understood the reason for being included in the Sensitive Country List.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official noted, "Given the sensitivity of the matter, it doesn’t seem appropriate to infer the background until we receive an accurate explanation from the U.S."
Insiders at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believe that the reason for designation may be more technical than political reasons, such as the previously discussed public opinion on nuclear armament in South Korea.