Korea to boast nuke tech supremacy

‘The Seoul summit will renew the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.’

South Korea will unveil homegrown technology that could significantly reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism for the first time in the world at the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit.

“We will showcase at the summit a nuclear technology that only South Korea possesses,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Kim Sung-hwan said in an interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday. “The homegrown technology will make it possible for reactors working with highly enriched uranium (HEU) to generate the same level of performance with low enriched uranium.”

Several rogue countries, including North Korea, have been accused of abusing HEU to make nuclear weapons. Many nuclear experts have also worried that HEU in civilian industries, particularly the medical industry, is under constant threat of theft by terrorists and other non-state actors with malicious intent.

Kim said the new technology will undergo feasibility testing in other countries. “I strongly believe that the technology will largely contribute to reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism,” the minister said.

With the summit only 10 days away, Kim said his ministry is putting the final touches to the preparations for the meeting to ensure that the event flows smoothly in terms of security and protocol.

“We will continue to work to make the Seoul summit an event to be carried out with the people,” he said. “We are attempting to raise public awareness about the significance of the summit.”

Fifty-eight world leaders will come together in Seoul on March 26 and 27 in an orchestrated effort to prevent nuclear terrorism and ensure the safe use of weapon-useable radioactive materials such as plutonium and HEU. The last sherpa meeting will be held here on March 23 for a final review of the preparations for the world’s largest forum on the matters, including the outcome document, or the Seoul Communique.

“The Korean government is working closely with other participating countries so that effective and substantial commitments to improve nuclear security are announced at the summit,” Kim said.

The communique will identify specific goals through practical measures to realize the vision of a “four-year lockdown” of all vulnerable nuclear materials, he said.

In addition to the document, he said South Korea expects further announcements to be made on specific steps toward nuclear security. Among the expected actions are the elimination and minimization of weapon-useable nuclear materials such as HEU or plutonium, the signing or ratification of key nuclear security instruments, and contributions to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Nuclear Security Fund.

He added the venue for the summit will be open to the public on the heels of its closure so that many people can see and experience the “historic setting.”

Message to North Korea

North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons is not an agenda at the summit since it’s a matter of nonproliferation and is being dealt with within the separate framework of the six-nation talks.

Nevertheless the minister said the summit could send a strong message urging North Korea to eliminate any such materials.

“I believe the presence of 58 world leaders in Seoul to discuss nuclear security could serve as an occasion to renew the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

Kim didn’t rule out the possibility that President Lee Myung-bak would discuss the North Korean issue with other leaders on the sidelines of the summit. Lee is scheduled to have bilateral meetings with more than 20 heads of state during the event.

The nuclear-armed North has recently launched verbal assaults on the South for the latter’s hosting of the summit, defining the global gathering as a “grave threat to the Stalinist state” and threatening “It won’t sit back.”

Regarding the angry reaction, the South Korean foreign minister said it reflects Pyongyang’s deep frustration over the nuclear security summit being held under its nose.

National brand

The minister underscored that the Seoul summit will help upgrade the country’s national brand.

Seoul’s hosting of the summit is indicative of the “recognition by the international community of Korea’s standing and role in addressing global issues,” Kim said.

“Korea has already demonstrated its leadership in the global economic arena,” he said referring to the country’s host of the G20 summit in 2010 and the Busan High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2011. “If the G20 summit and the Busan forum signified Korea’s transition from a recipient country of international aid to a donor state, the nuclear security summit demonstrates the leading role Korea is playing in the international security field.”

He went on to say that the country has actively tried to assume a “responsibility and role commensurate to our standing in the international community.”

“Indeed, we have actively taken part in global efforts to overcome common challenges,” he said. “The successful hosting of the summit will contribute to dissolving the Korea discount and instead serve as an opportunity to build a Korea premium.”

‘Comfortable stay in Seoul’

Kim wants South Korea to be portrayed among participating leaders as a “dynamic country with a rich cultural background” behind its modern success story.

To that end, the minister suggested three things which he hopes participating leaders will experience during their stay here ㅡ the new Gyeongheoru Yeonhyang, a traditional Korean performance, at Gyeongbokgung Palace; a moonlight tour of Chandeok Palace; and a stay at a Buddhist temple.

Chandeok Palace was designated as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1997 and the templestay program has been promoted by the government in line with its promotional campaign on traditional Korean culture.

“I hope the leaders attending the summit will get a chance to taste a unique blend of rich cultural tradition and dynamic modernity during their stay in Korea,” the minister said.

Noting the country’s rise from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War, he said Korea is more than willing to share our experience with other countries seeking national development.

“We will do our best to make every leader’s stay in Korea most comfortable, and I hope many of them will revisit Korea for the Yeosu Expo, which opens in May.” <Korea Times/Park Si-soo>

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