Beyond the 123 Agreement: A Strategy for a Substantive ROK-U.S. Nuclear Partnership
Key Takeaways- this report argues for a strategic pivot from a "sovereignty" paradigm, which frames the relationship around rights and restrictions, to a "capability" paradigm, which measures success by the advanced, secure nuclear technologies the two nations can jointly develop and deploy.- The simultaneous failure of the top-down HLBC and the disappearance of the bottom-up I-NER...
By
Eunju Jun [Director, International Strategy at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI)]
October 30, 2025