South Korea was designated a “sensitive” country by the U.S. Department of Energy because visitors to DOE-affiliated labs “mishandled sensitive information,” Joseph Yun, the acting U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said on March 18.
The DOE confirmed on March 15 that it placed South Korea in the lowest category of the “Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List (SCL)” in January but did not disclose specific reasons for the designation.
At a special luncheon hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, Yun said the designation did not signal a broader policy shift that would affect bilateral relations. “South Korea was put on this list because there was some mishandling of sensitive information,” he said. “This whole thing got out of control,” he said, adding, “it is not a big deal.”
The acting ambassador stressed that the sensitive country list is limited to DOE laboratories. “The DOE has a number of laboratories, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Argonne National Laboratory,” he explained. These laboratories handle sensitive material, and more than 2,000 Korean students, researchers, and government workers visited these laboratories last year.”
“There were some incidents because there were so many South Koreans going there,” Yun said. “Korea was put on this list because there was some mishandling of sensitive information,” he added, but did not elaborate on the issue.
The sensitive country designation raised alarms and sparked debate in Seoul, which said it had not been notified by the U.S. Yun assured that the designation stems from security issues in laboratories and the move does not affect bilateral collaboration in areas like artificial intelligence and biotechnology.
He pointed to Korea’s recent designation as a tier 1 partner in fields of advanced science, “which reflects how much the U.S. values its partnership with Korea.”
