S. Korea says trilateral SMR memorandum lays groundwork for joint entry into global nuclear market

The South Korean government said Monday that the memorandum of cooperation on small modular reactor deployment — signed by the three foreign ministers at their trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the recent NATO summit — was aimed at establishing a government-level framework for the nuclear industries of South Korea, the United States and Japan to enter the global SMR market together, starting with the Indo-Pacific region.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told reporters that day that the three governments had begun consultations in the first half of last year. As a global "nuclear renaissance" driven by surging power demand amid the AI revolution takes hold, the three governments began exploring ways to maximize synergies among their companies. The rationale is that the United States' advanced core technology and the world-class construction and manufacturing capabilities of South Korea and Japan are highly complementary.

The memorandum appears to have been driven primarily by the US Department of State. South Korea and the United States have consistently deepened cooperation in the nuclear sector, including on SMRs, and the US side's firsthand experience with South Korea's strong construction capabilities is seen as a key factor behind the agreement.

The official cited three key benefits of the memorandum: laying the groundwork for South Korean companies to expand their business opportunities in the global SMR market, reaffirming the trust and potential of the South Korea-US nuclear partnership, and extending trilateral cooperation into a new domain.

"The Indo-Pacific region is expected to see the largest increase in new nuclear power demand going forward, and we believe that combining the capabilities of South Korea, the United States and Japan will allow us to offer competitive options to countries in the region," the official said. Positive reactions had already been received through various diplomatic channels since the memorandum was signed, the official added. Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore were among the countries said to be showing strong interest in SMRs.

The government said it plans to further accelerate trilateral SMR cooperation as part of its efforts to support South Korean companies' overseas expansion. "This memorandum is also focused on building a government-level foundation to support corporate activity, and it explicitly states that it will not interfere in any way with private-sector nuclear projects already being pursued by individual countries or companies," the official said.

"Now that a government-to-government cooperation framework has been established among the three countries, we intend to use this as an opportunity to closely monitor corporate trends and market conditions," the official added. "We will continue to communicate with the US and Japanese sides and explore ways to help South Korean companies identify new opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region."