Stopping Korea from Going Nuclear, Part II

A few days after meeting with President Ford, President Park played golf with high level Korean officials, including the Korean CIA chief, and three U.S. officials - Ambassador Sneider, CIA station chief Donald Gregg (the special assistant to the ambassador), and Commander, U.S. Forces Korea, General Richard Stilwell. Most of the conversation was between Park and Sneider on a range of issues: the succession to Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka (who was not one of Park's favorites), whether North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung had a serious health problem, that both Park and Sneider had warned of a North Korean attack in June 1950, and whether Park saw a parallel between his life and the Turkish modernizer Kemal Pasha (Attaturk). Park said that he wanted to complete South Korea's modernization but expressed some regret that he had not resigned earlier, as some had advised, because holding on to power for so long had led to the assassination attempt a few months earlier in which his wife had been killed.

Noting that he had stopped drinking after his wife's murder, Park said that if he quit smoking all that he would have left to do was watch television. According to Sneider, he "clearly left the impression of a man lonely, anxious for companionship, but too aloof to arrange for it except on occasions such as the golf match and dinner."

A report by General Electric executives on their talks with South Korean officials about reprocessing and other nuclear issues. The GE executives reported their impression that for the South Koreans, "reprocessing was out of [the] idea stage and now a definite plan."

A message drafted by CIA officer Richard Lawless about the state of play of the South Korean nuclear program. As it had been well over two months since the Seoul Embassy sent its report on the South Korean nuclear program [See Part I, document 6], Sneider sent Assistant Secretary of State Habib what amounted to a reminder to authorize a reply. Citing unidentified "special intelligence" along with information from a meeting between General Electric (GE) and Korean officials, Sneider probably used the special "Roger" channel through which embassies communicated directly with State Department's INR. According to the message, something was "clearly afoot" and that South Korea was determined to achieve the weapons capability discussed in the December 1974 message.

During a conversation with Sneider, French Ambassador to South Korea Pierre Landy shared his strong doubts about France's sale of Exocet anti-ship missiles to South Korea. On the sale of the nuclear reprocessing plant to Seoul, Landy observed that his "government is seeking to act cautiously and responsibly in this field." Sneider had the impression that the French were open to cooperation with Washington to "maintain close controls" over sales of "advanced weapons and nuclear material," as long as competition was "open" in non-sensitive areas.

Worried about the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea, President Park discussed with Sneider his plans to develop missile production capabilities to provide the means for attacking North Korean air bases and urban centers in event of war. Sneider observed that the U.S. kept close control over missile technology because it wanted to preserve its "strong competitive advantage;" nevertheless, "decisions on individual items" could be discussed. Giving an overview of South Korean defense objectives, Park asserted that he had "no plans to develop nuclear weapons," but wanted missile forces ready ahead of U.S. withdrawal. In his comments, Sneider emphasized the importance of providing Seoul with a "sense of security" while at the same time "avoiding risks of NK-SK escalation in missiles and other areas of high technology."

A week after Sneider made his demarche to the South Koreans about the reprocessing plant (see Part I, Document 19), Deputy Prime Minister Nam Duk Woo shared his concerns during a frank discussion with the ambassador. Apparently, President Park did not yet know about the U.S. concern and Nam was worried about his reactions when "he is fully informed." He would have to meet with the prime minister and other top officials to "discuss the problem." Nam mentioned the "strong resistance" from scientists to the U.S. demand for cancellation noting that reprocessing was considered "necessary technical training" for a regional reprocessing facility. (Sneider observed in his message that the embassy had inside information that Minister of Science and Technology (MOST) Choe saw his career "at stake" in the outcome of the controversy.) Nam did not understand why the U.S. was concerned because the reprocessing plant had such limited capabilities that it was only a "toy." Noting that South Korean officials resented "U.S. arm twisting," he wanted to avoid a "confrontation" and was willing to make a "case" for accepting the U.S. position.

After attending a presidential reception, Sneider reported on a conversation with Deputy Prime Minister Nam and Presidential Secretary Kim Chong-yom who declared that Seoul's position on the nuclear deal remained "firm" despite the recent demarche from U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Ingersoll (See Part I, Document 24). Nam insisted that with safeguards, the reprocessing plant would not be under "exclusive" South Korean control and that even joint U.S.-Korean operation would be possible, but Sneider restated Washington's political and technical objections.

With U.S.-South Korean discussions of the reprocessing plant stalemated by the end of November 1975, the State Department sent Ambassador Sneider new instructions to counter Seoul's objections. Invoking Secretary of State Kissinger's name, Sneider was to convey the U.S. message first to Prime Minister Kim, but if a favorable reply did not arrive within a week, he was to take the message to President Park. When conveying it, Sneider was instructed to make the point that failure to cancel the reprocessing plant would lead Washington to withdraw the request for the Export-Import Bank loan for Kori-2 and to forbid the reprocessing of U.S.-derived nuclear fuel, and would "seriously affect" future U.S.-ROK nuclear cooperation. In addition, any future South Korean action to separate and stockpile plutonium "would seriously affect our security and political relationship" and have an "unsettling" impact in the region. Should Seoul cancel the reprocessing plant, the United States could offer nuclear cooperation in a number of areas, including low-enriched fuel fabrication, increased access to non-sensitive technology, and "commensurate training opportunities for Korean scientists."

With Deputy Secretary Ingersoll about to meet with the Canadian and the French ambassadors for discussions of Korea, senior State Department officials prepared talking points for the discussions. Ingersoll was to share with both ambassadors intelligence perspectives on South Korean nuclear ambitions as part of his broader attempt to persuade them to support the U.S. case for cancellation. For example, Ingersoll could ask Canadian Ambassador Jack Warren to consider the "leverage Canada might effectively bring to bear in the nuclear area, for example, with regard to nuclear reactor sales or credits and an explicit denial of ROK national reprocessing of Canadian fuel." Moreover, if Canada was willing to support the U.S. demand for cancellation of the reprocessing plant, the Canadian ambassador in Seoul could coordinate the demarche with Ambassador Sneider.

With Kissinger still in Asia, Acting Secretary of State Ingersoll met with French Ambassador Jacques Kosciusko-Morizet in order to keep Paris "fully informed" about the ROK nuclear problem. Briefing the ambassador about the ROK's objectives and the reprocessing plant's capability to produce weapons grade plutonium, Ingersoll explained that Seoul had rejected U.S. requests to cancel the reprocessing deal. Kosciusko-Morizet observed that he would send a report to Paris immediately, noting that President Giscard d'Estaing was "personally interested."

That same day, Ingersoll met with Canadian Ambassador Warren and told him about the ROK's "covert" nuclear weapons program, the failed entreaties to Korean officials, and the plans to approach the prime minister and possibly President Park. After Ingersoll expressed hope that the Canadian government would "express serious concern" about the reprocessing facility, Warren said he would convey U.S. thinking to Ottawa. He further noted that the Canada-ROK negotiations over the CANDU reactor were in a "delicate stage" with signing scheduled during the next few days. In response to Warren's question, Ingersoll noted that the French had been cooperative by agreeing "not to hasten" talks with the ROK on the reprocessing plant.

In the midst of the negotiations, Assistant Secretary of State Philip Habib arrived in Seoul to brief President Park on President Ford's recent meetings with the Chinese leadership during his trip to Beijing. According to Habib, an "interesting nuance" in the talks occurred when the Chinese Vice Premier "clearly indicated" that Beijing did not expect a North Korean attack, which led Washington to believe that China was having a "moderating influence" on North Korea. Habib and Park continued to discuss whether China accepted the status quo in the Korean peninsula and the meaning of Chinese public statements about Korean issues.

Immediately after meeting with Park, Habib saw presidential secretary Kim Chom-yong, with whom he discussed the "major importance" of the reprocessing problem and the need to cancel the contract with the French.

The same day as the Habib-Park meeting, Sneider met with Prime Minister Kim Chong-pil and relayed the talking points developed in the Department's 4 December message. Kim was founder of the Korean CIA and helped organize the coup that brought Park to power. In response to Sneider, he stressed the importance of the security relationship with Washington to Korea's survival, and denied that the ROK had a nuclear weapons program. Noting his government's concern over the Japanese reprocessing project, Kim argued that the ROK sought the French plant for peaceful purposes only and that guarantees about inspections should meet U.S. concerns. In that connection, Kim "could not understand U.S. suspicions" because as long as Park and he were in charge nothing would be done to endanger U.S. interests. Sneider restated U.S. apprehensions about the reprocessing plant, which threatened promising opportunities for "wide scale U.S/ROK cooperation in nuclear and scientific areas." After the prime minister said that his government would review the U.S. proposal Sneider told him that he would take the matter up with President Park directly if he did not receive a reply in a week. Only days later Park removed Kim from office, possibly seeing him as a potential rival for power.

Taking his conversation with the prime minister into account, Sneider recommended a high-level approach to Ambassador Hahm in Washington with emphasis on the "adverse impact" on the broader U.S.-ROK relationship if Seoul went forward with the reprocessing deal. On the question of the Japanese reprocessing project, Sneider had the impression that Washington's failure to object "sticks in Korean craw." He advised greater emphasis on the differences between the two situations and the current U.S. effort to draw Japan into a regional reprocessing arrangement.

Ingersoll reported to Sneider that the Canadian ploy was working: Ottawa had decided to hold off on the signing of the CANDU reactor sale to Seoul, telling Korean officials that ministerial schedules prevented action before January. Moreover, the Canadians were going to ask the ROK for information on their reprocessing plans. These actions were not easy for the Canadians because they had postponed the signing at "the eleventh hour on such short notice" and "a sharp ROK reaction" was expected. During conversations with Warren, Ingersoll and Assistant Secretary for Politico-Military Affairs George Vest told him that were grateful for the "rapid and helpful Canadian response."

A meeting with Ambassador Hahm showed that he was uncomfortable with an adamant position. Ingersoll and State Department associates rejected Seoul's economic and technical arguments and emphasized the dangers of the reprocessing plant for U.S.-ROK "mutual interests." In reply, Hahm offered U.S. "participation and control" of the facility and raised again the problem of the Japanese reprocessing plant. Showing an interest in conciliation, Hahm raised the possibility that Washington offer a "concrete fuel fabrication proposal which would allow ROKG to cancel the reprocessing deal." When Ingersoll showed interest, Hahm "backed away" because he was acting without instructions.

Discussions with MOST's vice minister, Yi Chong-sok, and Presidential Secretary-General

Kim Chom-yom suggested that Seoul was starting to climb down from the reprocessing deal. Meeting with Sneider, Vice Minister Yi sought "concrete information" about possible U.S. nuclear aid if Seoul decided to cancel the reprocessing deal. Yi asked specific questions about support for fuel fabrication, regional reprocessing, support and training, enrichment services, and loans for power reactors. Sneider answered as best as he could on the spot but acknowledged that full answers would take time. Seeing some possibility that the Koreans were "stalling us" he also suggested that for Seoul a technical agreement was a "a better face-saver than political arguments."

Conversations with Kim Chom-yom also indicated a "little daylight." Seoul would hold off any action on the reprocessing plant until Washington had replied to Yi's questions. Moreover, Park "was fully aware of the high political stakes involved" and would ensure that the reprocessing issue received "the fullest reconsideration" in light of the U.S. reply. Given those circumstances, Sneider wrote that we "have little to lost [sic] and a lot to gain" by giving the South Koreans detailed information on how much more Washington can further their "peaceful nuclear ambitions" than France can.

After he had spoken with Yi, Sneider met with Canadian ambassador Stiles who told him that he had instructions to explain to the foreign minister the delayed signing of the CANDU reactor deal. During the conversation, Stiles was going to observe that neither Washington nor Ottawa were going to consent to reprocessing of spent fuel from the reactors they had supplied; therefore, his government wished to know "what nuclear materials will be available for reprocessing in French plant." Stiles wanted to be kept informed of Korean responses and would "await signal before making approach."

Meeting with Kissinger in Paris, Canadian Minister of External Affairs MacEachen informed him of Ottawa's postponement of the reactor deal because of concerns raised by the United States. Kissinger reacted as if he disagreed with the intelligence or was not completely up-to-speed with it, questioning "whether [the South Koreans] have such an intention" (weapons program), but agreed to provide the Canadians with more information. Kissinger confirmed that if Seoul went ahead with the reprocessing plan, that U.S.-ROK nuclear cooperation would stop.

Worried that Yi's questions were a distraction, the State Department instructed Sneider to go ahead and schedule an appointment with Park so that it was understood at the "highest levels" that they had to "address [the] fundamental political issue" of whether they would go ahead on reprocessing over U.S. objection. Before Washington elaborated on "future U.S. nuclear assistance in non-sensitive areas" it wanted "prior ROK assurances" on reprocessing.

In response to the instructions to make an appointment with President Park, Sneider responded that he was willing to do so but believed that he should present Park with answers to Yi's questions. Not only had the Koreans asked that the United States do so, he believed that it would be easier for Park to reverse his position on "ostensibly technical grounds." Moreover, given Park's "nationalist bent," a refusal to address Yi's questions could "trigger emotional and admittedly irrational reaction of trying to push ahead with reprocessing in confrontation atmosphere." In light of such considerations, Sneider asked the Department for new instructions.

A conversation with Xavier de Nazelle disclosed that Paris would not make a "firm decision" on the reprocessing plant until Washington had "finished its efforts to dissuade the ROK from purchasing" it. The French government was "not prepared at this point to have its contractor proceed with the construction of the plant."

Responding to Sneider's request for new instructions, the Department accepted some of his suggestions and expressed appreciation for the "considerations" about Korean nationalism. Nevertheless, Kissinger wanted him to go ahead and arrange a meeting with Park. When doing so, Sneider should discuss the "positive aspects" of U.S.-ROK nuclear cooperation in "non-sensitive areas" should Park cancel the deal with the French, including points raised by Sneider's message. While Sneider should avoid making specific commitments, he could reiterate his initial response to Yi's questions while noting that "many of the questions require extended consideration and consultation" once the reprocessing plant had been cancelled.

With Park's schedule apparently full, Sneider met with presidential aide Kim Chong-Yom. Kim argued that ROK's decisions on a reprocessing facility were fully justified and did not reflect any nuclear weapons ambitions, but the ROK did have to take into account the broader relationship with Washington and the "serious" U.S. position on reprocessing. Therefore, Kim made a counter-offer: Seoul would postpone any action on reprocessing for six months while the ROK held talks with the United States about nuclear cooperation. As part of this reconsideration, Seoul would be "prepared" to cancel the contract with the French if its nuclear research and development requirements could be met.

In response to Sneider's emphasis on the importance of cancellation prior to any detailed discussions, Kim argued that the ROK needed a "basis" for cancelling before approaching the French. After their talk, Kim told Sneider that his report on the talks had "impressed" President Park who had authorized telling the French that the ROK "would hold up the reprocessing project" until the talks with Washington had produced a "satisfactory agreement."

Based on his discussion with Kim, Sneider believed that Washington should ensure that the dialogue continued. That was consistent with U.S. security and diplomatic interests as well as to preserve access by US "commercial interests" to the ROK nuclear development program. Therefore, he recommended accepting the ROK proposal for discussions of "non-sensitive nuclear cooperation before final cancellation." By sending a technical team to hold the discussions, Washington would put itself in a strong position: first, by providing a "test of professed ROK willingness to forego acquisition of reprocessing facility," and second by leaving "unimpaired our leverage both of going anytime directly to President Park to lay issue directly on the line to him" and of "further discouraging" the French from moving forward.

The Department was encouraged by Sneider's report (supra), not least because discussions with Park's right-hand man meant that Washington was communicating more directly with the president. Agreeing with Sneider that the ROK had decided that it could not go ahead with the reprocessing deal "under present circumstances," the State Department wanted to ensure that Seoul did not "postpone a definitive reversal of its position on reprocessing."

Accordingly, Sneider was to tell Kim that the U.S. was ready to hold talks with Seoul on Korea's nuclear requirements in non-sensitive areas, but that "we cannot proceed with Kori-II or enter into such discussions until the ROKG has decided to cancel its reprocessing plant contract." Once the ROK made the cancellation decision "we are prepared to send qualified USG personnel to discuss with ROKG the positive aspects of U.S.-Korean peaceful nuclear cooperation." Prolonged delay in making a decision was likely to have an adverse impact on congressional and public opinion in light of "perceptions that Korea is seeking an independent capability to produce plutonium" that had surfaced in the media.

The record of Sneider's discussion with Kim Chong-yom in early January remains classified as do further State Department instructions. Apparently, Kim was affronted enough to induce U.S. officials to drop their position requiring cancellation prior to further talks. Accordingly, initial U.S.-ROK discussion would no longer be dependent on cancellation of the reprocessing contract, although further discussions would. Sneider relayed that to Kim, who said that his government was willing to engage in talks with U.S. "qualified experts"; he did not, however, accept that a "single round" of talks could provide the basis for rejecting the contract with the French. Sneider commented that Kim's anxiety to get the talks going indicated that "pressures on the ROKG are beginning to take their toll and they are anxious as we are to avoid a protracted period of bargaining." Moreover, the visit by U.S. experts could "increase the pressures for cancellation while making clear further talks contingent upon cancellation."

Sneider's talks with Canadian ambassador Stiles revealed that Korean diplomats had asked Ottawa whether completion of the CANDU reactor sale depended upon cancellation of the reprocessing deal. So far, the Canadians had raised questions about reprocessing but had not made a direct link; to resolve the matter, Stiles sent the question to Ottawa. Sneider also reported that a South Korean Westinghouse representative had said that Minister of Science and Technology Choe, formerly an adamant supporter of reprocessing, was now "two-thirds sure" of the need to cancel the contract.

In a later conversation, Stiles reported that he had spoken with the deputy prime minister: when Stiles mentioned that the French contract had been "postponed," Nam replied that it "was more than postponement," it was "cancellation." It is likely that the State Department had received information from the French about these communications with Seoul, but the relevant telegram traffic has not yet surfaced publicly, although it may be included in documents currently under security review.

Agreeing with Sneider that Seoul was wavering on whether to cancel and that an early visit by U.S. experts would provide the "occasion' for that action, the State Department wanted to send a group to Seoul as quickly as possible under the lead of Acting Assistant Secretary of State Myron Kratzer for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, who had years of experience in international nuclear affairs at the Atomic Energy Commission. The Department instructed the ambassador to propose to Kim meeting dates with the Kratzer group on 22-23 January. "At the same time, you should stress importance to our mutual interests of early cancellation" because without such a decision the United States "could not go beyond this simple exchange."

The State Department informed the Embassy that Ottawa had raised the pressure on Seoul by instructing Ambassador Stiles to tell the ROK that it would sign off on the CANDU reactor sale "as soon as you give us assurance that the ROK will not pursue projected acquisition of the reprocessing plant from France."

On 22 January, Myron Kratzer's delegation began meeting with a South Korean group led by Minister of Science and Technology Choe for several days of intensive talks. The discussions between Choe and Kratzer began with tacit disagreement over the question of a decision on reprocessing, with Kratzer emphasizing that future nuclear cooperation depended on a Korean decision to cancel the plant while Choe avoided a "direct link between the outcome of the talks and a reprocessing decision."

With Sneider in Hawaii for an ambassador's conference, urgent messages from the embassy were forwarded to him. This one reported on the progress of the Choe-Kratzer talks, which had produced agreement on a text describing a U.S.-ROK program of nuclear cooperation. According to the embassy, it conveyed a "clear understanding on part of ROK that strengthened cooperation in future is conditional on decision ... to cancel French reprocessing facility." The Embassy also reported on the latest developments concerning the Canadians: Ottawa would not sign the CANDU reactor deal with Seoul unless the latter had cancelled the reprocessing facility.

The Choe-Kratzer discussions produced an agreed summary record which included a general agreement on a future program of cooperation in a number of areas: 1) Improved communication/coordination of peaceful nuclear cooperation, 2) Cooperation in nuclear reactor design, construction, operation maintenance, 3) Sister laboratory relationship, 4) Nuclear fuel fabrication, 5) Reprocessing services, 6) Reactor safety and regulatory cooperation, and 7) General agreement for science and technology cooperation. The heart of the record was the admission that Seoul was reconsidering its plans to purchase the reprocessing facility and that "the final decision will be made on the basis of the ROK/US discussions."

At a NATO meeting in Brussels, Kissinger and MacEachen had further discussion of the reactor and reprocessing deals. MacEachen said that the Canadians had asked for assurances that the reprocessing plant would not be built; otherwise, Canada could not sell the reactors. He explained that "we are working with the ROK to soften them up, but I don't know if. we can deliver a knockout blow." Kissinger was confident that Canada's action was indeed the "knockout blow"; as far as he was concerned, "there will be no reprocessing plant."

Consistent with what MacEachen told Kissinger, that same day, the Korean government signed an agreement with Canada assuring that "it is not pursuing acquisition of the reprocessing facility" and "the projected reprocessing facility has been shelved indefinitely ... at least until after the [ROK's] negotiations with the United States on further nuclear co-operation are resolved." The next day, 26 January 1976, Canada and South Korea held a signing ceremony on the CANDU reactor sale.

Despite their pledge to the Canadian government, the Park regime made another effort to acquire a reprocessing plant. Working with the South Koreans, a Taiwanese company made an approach to the French firm, St. Gobain, to acquire equipment that could be used to construct a reprocessing plant; the Taiwanese also tried to acquire fuel fabricating technology from another French entity. The French government denied the export licenses to the Taiwanese. As the embassy cable indicates, referring to State Department telegram 157296 (not presently available), Washington already knew that Seoul had been making a surreptitious effort, but the Taiwanese role in the matter had been unknown. Probably because such efforts had been blocked, at the end of 1976 that Park cancelled the 890 project.