U.S. envoy says 'sensitive country' tag 'no big deal.' Seoul isn't reassured.

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U.S. envoy says 'sensitive country' tag 'no big deal.' Seoul isn't reassured.

Published: 18 Mar. 2025, 18:12 Updated: 18 Mar. 2025, 21:44

SEO JI-EUN
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Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Joseph Yun, the acting U.S. ambassador to Korea, speaks at a business forum hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea at a hotel in Seoul on March 18. [NEWS1]

Acting U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Joseph Yun on Tuesday downplayed Korea's addition to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) “sensitive country” list as “not a big deal,” attributing it to security incidents involving the mishandling of sensitive information at U.S. research labs.

While Washington attempted to minimize the significance of the designation, Korea's Foreign Ministry called it a "serious matter" — revealing a gap in perception between the two allies.

"The sensitive country list is confined to the DOE laboratories," Yun said at an event cohosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (Amcham) and the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday. "As you know, the DOE has a number of laboratories."

More than 2,000 Korean students, researchers and government officials visited these laboratories last year, which contain sensitive materials.

“[We call it] export-sensitive materials — it should not be taken out of the laboratory," he said. "There were some incidents because there were so many Koreans going there to research, and so this list was made.

"Korea was put on this list because there was some mishandling of this sensitive information," Yun said.

The top U.S. envoy, however, urged against overinterpreting the designation.

“To say that this is policy-based or has implications way beyond into AI, biotech and so on is simply wrong," Yun added.

The DOE put Korea under the "Other Designated Country" category, the lowest tier within the sensitive country list, in early January, with Korean officials only to find out two months later after a media report.

The DOE also clarified that being on the list “does not indicate an adversarial relationship with the United States” and "does not prohibit scientific or technical cooperation."

Despite Washington’s reassurances, a Korean Foreign Ministry official told reporters Tuesday that the government is taking the issue “seriously” and is working closely with relevant agencies to address it. The official emphasized that a coordinated, pan-governmental effort is underway to resolve the matter.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who concurrently serves as deputy prime minister for economic affairs and finance minister, attends a Cabinet meeting at the government complex in Seoul on March 18. [MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND FINANCE]

On the same day, acting President Choi Sang-mok convened a high-level meeting with vice ministers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Science and ICT to review responses. Choi reportedly instructed them to minimize adverse effects on Korea-U.S. cooperation and ordered an active diplomatic push for removal from the list.

During an economic affairs meeting the previous day, Choi directed government agencies to “proactively explain” Korea's position to the United States to ensure it does not undermine bilateral cooperation in science, technology and energy.

Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun was designated to meet with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright this week to discuss the issue. While Ahn’s trip was initially planned to discuss bilateral energy and nuclear cooperation ahead of a key U.S. tariff announcement in early April, he will formally request Korea’s removal from the list and explain measures to prevent future security concerns.

Given the tight timeline before the April 15 implementation, whether the request will be accepted in time is unclear.

The Korean and U.S. energy authorities are set to begin working-level video discussions on Tuesday to prepare for the meeting.

Washington confirmed to Seoul that the designation stems from "security" concerns related to a research lab under the DOE rather than political factors, according to a press statement from Seoul's Foreign Ministry late Monday.

There was widespread speculation in Korea that the move was linked to domestic political controversies — including President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law declaration, the ruling party’s calls for nuclear armament and the opposition’s impeachment drive.

The Korean media on Tuesday belatedly discovered a semiannual DOE report submitted to Congress that revealed a security breach at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) involving an employee heading to Korea.

The Department of Energy headquarters in Washington [UPI/YONHAP]

According to the report, an INL contractor employee was caught attempting to board a flight to Korea with proprietary nuclear reactor design software containing patented information classified as export-controlled. The incident was documented in the DOE report covering the period from Oct. 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, which was submitted to Congress in May 2024.

However, the report did not specify whether the employee was Korean.

The U.S. government also did not formally raise concerns about the apparent security breach with Korea, leading diplomatic insiders to question whether the incident was significant enough to include Seoul on the sensitive country list.

A Seoul-based source indicated that the reactor software case may not be the sole reason for Korea’s designation.

Despite the Korean Foreign Ministry's statement late Monday, the DOE has not shared specific case details with the Korean government, prompting officials to conduct their own investigation into possible security lapses.

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]