Park Sun-won: "US Designation as Sensitive Country May Have Reminded of Park Jeong-hee's Martial Law, Nuclear Armament Theory, and Yushin"

"U.S. Department of Energy, More Powerful Than White House Officials"

Park Seon-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, claimed that the background of the U.S. Department of Energy's designation of South Korea as a sensitive country includes not only research institute security issues but also President Yoon Seok-yeol's mention of nuclear armament theory and the declaration of martial law, stating, "Watching the December 3 martial law reminds me of the situation during the Park Chung-hee administration when nuclear armament and the Yushin regime were in place."

On the 25th, on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' Park said, "The designation as a sensitive country seems to be due to a combination of two reasons related to research institute security," and explained, "First, a contract researcher at the U.S. Idaho National Laboratory was caught boarding a flight to South Korea carrying software for a reactor patented by the U.S. The fact that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's investigative agency are simultaneously investigating this is a serious issue."

He continued, "Although the nationality of the researcher is not South Korean, the U.S. Department of Energy's Inspector General report states that 'the researcher is related to South Korea and communicated with a foreign government,'" adding, "There is a possibility that the foreign government is South Korea. The U.S. has likely conducted a thorough investigation and already knows this."

He cited "rule violations" as the second reason, stating, "The number of South Korean researchers who are at or visit U.S. Department of Energy-affiliated laboratories for research averages 2,000 per year. Among them, there are people who have violated the rules."

Park Seon-won, Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

He then noted, "However, the consensus is that behind the sensitive country designation issue, beyond research institute security problems, there is the nuclear armament theory," suggesting that President Yoon and ruling party politicians' mentions of nuclear armament may have had an influence. Park said, "At the end of President Park Chung-hee's term, nuclear armament was pursued under the banner of self-defense, and democracy was suppressed while the Korea-U.S. relationship deteriorated," adding, "Similarly, now there is talk that if South Korea pursues nuclear armament, its dependence on the Korea-U.S. alliance will decrease and questions arise about whether South Korea will fulfill the roles the U.S. desires. Seeing the recent martial law incident, these two factors seem to align."

Park stated, "The U.S. Department of Energy is the most powerful department regarding nuclear issues, even stronger than White House officials," and explained, "This department exclusively manages the development and technological control of U.S. nuclear weapons, as well as nuclear weapons inventory management." He added, "In the past, I requested to visit a U.S. nuclear development site, and the White House said, 'Okay, but the Department of Energy must agree.' Eventually, the Department of Energy refused, so the visit was not allowed," emphasizing, "The power of the U.S. Department of Energy is tremendous."

Meanwhile, Cho Tae-yeol, Minister of Foreign Affairs, explained regarding the U.S. Department of Energy's designation of South Korea as a sensitive country, "The reason South Korea was included on the list is understood to be related to security issues at laboratories under the Department of Energy, not a diplomatic policy issue." At a briefing on current affairs during the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary session the previous day, Minister Cho stated, "The Department of Energy conducts background checks and review procedures on personnel visiting its 17 affiliated laboratories," but emphasized, "We have confirmed consistent messages from the Department of Energy, the State Department, and the White House National Security Council (NSC) that the Korea-U.S. cooperation and partnership remain strong."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.