Sensitive country' label may be a US move to deter S. Korea's nuke ambition

Decision made by Biden administration said to be triggered by Yoon's martial law bid

- Wendy Teo

A move by the United States energy department to designate South Korea as a "sensitive country" is likely a warning against calls for the East Asian country to have its own nuclear arms, say analysts.

It is said that the decision was made by the US in January 2025, before Mr Joe Biden stepped down as president. Seoul apparently did not find out about the move until a local media outlet, The Hankyoreh, reported it on March 10, based on a tip-off from a US-based think-tank.

The report said the US Department of Energy (DOE) is set to add five countries, including South Korea, to the blacklist with effect from April 15. They will join the likes of China, Russia, India, Israel, North Korea, Taiwan and Iran.

Countries may be classified as "sensitive" for "national security, nuclear nonproliferation, or terrorism support reasons", the department's website states.

Though the DOE did not specify reasons for South Korea's inclusion, observers say the move is likely a warning against the country's nuclear ambitions, and also triggered by the martial law debacle of Dec 3 that has plunged it into political turmoil.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is facing impeachment and criminal charges of insurrection for the martial law fiasco, had first mooted the idea of South Korea's nuclear armament in January 2023, out of concerns over the adequacy of the US' "extended deterrence" in the face of North Korea's burgeoning nuclear arsenal.

In response, the then Biden administration agreed to establish a Nuclear Consultative Group for joint responses to the North Korean threat in April 2023, which pleased Mr Yoon enough for him to back off on his pro-arms rhetoric.