As the current U.S.-ROK nuclear energy cooperation agreement nears its expiration, it is important for nuclear energy experts, defense and security experts, and nonproliferation experts alike to consider the prospects for the agreement’s renewal. South Korea is a crucial U.S. ally in East Asia, and the terms of this important cooperation agreement have the potential to define aspects of U.S. nonproliferation policy in East Asia for decades. This paper considers the political conditions for renewal in both the United States and South Korea, the nonproliferation considerations of the South Korean request for pyroprocessing, and the significance of this particular nuclear cooperation agreement as a precedent for future agreements and for U.S-ROK relations in the coming years. This paper ultimately will consider the possible outcomes of negotiations and use the U.S.-ROK nuclear agreement to sketch broad conclusions about the current relationship between U.S. nuclear cooperation agreements and U.S. nonproliferation efforts.
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