Ridgeway Briefing
Ridgeway Briefings offer handy 2000-word analyses of emerging issues in international relations and security, prepared by Ridgeway’s team of open-source analysts, linguists and subject-matter experts.
At a glance
The United States recently expressed its support for South Korea’s ambitions to develop uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing capabilities for its civil nuclear programme;
Korean-language sources indicate that key figures in Seoul view the step as having a deterrent component (a so-called latency strategy). As such, the US declaration of support represents somewhat of a policy departure and may have proliferation implications;
Probable downstream effects of any such expansion of South Korea’s nuclear infrastructure would include 1) significant additional burdens being placed on the safeguards work of
the International Atomic Energy Agency; 2) clamour for similar arrangements by other states in sensitive geopolitical contexts; 3) accusations of hypocrisy around the United States’ nuclear diplomacy; and 4) the emboldening of other actors in the global nuclear market – including Russia – to incorporate proliferation-sensitive technologies in their offers to partner states.
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To read the entire Briefing, please access the following link: The US, South Korea, and the future of nuclear proliferation.
