TheaterFire

US classifies South Korea as ‘sensitive country,’ limiting cooperation on advanced tech

Posted by logosuwu@reddit | hardware | View on Reddit | 48 comments

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48 Comments

SmileyBMM@reddit

This doesn't really have anything to do with computer hardware, this is all about nuclear. The AI part is really just sensationalism, this has nothing to do with the AI chip export controls. > “The US Department of Energy for responsible to managing everything from the nuclear power industry to the nuclear materials that go into nuclear weapons, and the most important standard for ‘sensitive country’ classification is nuclear nonproliferation,” noted Lee Choon-geun, an expert in the field of nuclear energy currently a invited research fellow at the Korea Institute of Science & Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP). > “The key reason for this measure is most likely the calls for nuclear armament that have been spreading in South Korea,” Lee suggested. > He also commented, “As the calls for nuclear armament continue to increase in South Korea, the US has been even more alarmed because four of the reactors at the Wolsong nuclear power plant [one reactor is currently being decommissioned] are heavy-water reactors with plutonium that could immediately be extracted.” In other words, this has little to do with the current administration and much more to do with South Korea changing stance on nuclear armament. It's a safe bet that this designation has bipartisan support from politicians in the US.
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GeneralGom@reddit

South Korean here. Actually, the current US administration's handling of Ukraine is pushing the sentiment even more towards nuclear armament in SK, which was already high ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and NK's increasing speed of nuclear armament development.
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ByGollie@reddit

Have you tried contacting the French? The US did not want Israel to have nuclear weapons, so the Israelis went to the French who provided material and technology.
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Time-Maintenance2165@reddit

That doesn't sound right to me since that would mean France violates the non proliferation treaty.
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advester@reddit

Depending on the timing. Wasn't the NPT pretty late in the game, '84 or so.
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Time-Maintenance2165@reddit

It was 1968 for the 5 nuclear-weapon states.
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SmileyBMM@reddit

True, but sentiment has been moving in this direction for some time now. This is hardly a recent shift in strategy from SK. I would argue the moment Crimea got invaded and the US did not meaningful assist was what damned the entire nuclear nonproliferation movement.
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grannyte@reddit

The current admin is supercharging the call for nuclear arms all over the world even in canada there is support for it
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SmileyBMM@reddit

Definitely pushing it forward yeah. I think many have become completely disillusioned by the traditional geopolitical status quo, and I think this was inevitable. The fact is the people who proposed and implemented all this are dead or retired, and the current people in power are quickly realizing the current systems and agreements are not fit for purpose.
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grannyte@reddit

They were fit until the US started replaying europe 1930's nato together can take on russia and china simultaneously. But with the US becoming the new threat all that is down the drain
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Strazdas1@reddit

The parliament of my small eastern european country is now debating whether they should join France in nuclear defense or try their own. This is a country that closed its only nuclear power plant in the past how much it hated nuclear, but the sentiment has totally flipped in a span of a month.
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GeneralGom@reddit

Right, but my point is that the current administration is pushing it even further and faster. You see the same trend even in Europe lately.
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SmileyBMM@reddit

Further, absolutely. Faster? Ehh, I'm not so sure. This is more so the last straw and the breaking point for a lot of people. Either way, it's safe to say this trend is not reversing anytime soon.
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gahlo@reddit

Desire for nuclear armament is even stronger under this administration because of the US' blatant signalling that they will not back their allies under their nuclear umbrella anymore.
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auradragon1@reddit

Of course the US wants SK to not have nuclear missiles. They want SK to rely on the US economically and militarily.
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Roxalon_Prime@reddit

That's probably a hot take? but: US, as well as the other nuclear superpower does not want anyone to have nuclear weapon is: 1 Exclusivity of Power 2 (the hot take) It is not actually as powerful as many believe. Strategic nuclear weapons are "good" but that's terrorism basically The whole nuclear winter theory is questionable. And as a cherry on top tactical nuclear weapons are good enough "for this building", not "for this city" you need a lot of tactical nukes to win a large scale war. If a smaller, unstable power get their hands on it and use it it will become apparent for a lot of people, and nuclear weapon will lose a lot of it "containment power" That's would a bad thing, a really bad thing
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SmileyBMM@reddit

I don't disagree, but this article has nothing to do with this subreddit. This is really a geopolitics issue and is mainly a topic of discussion for reconsidering the US' stance on nuclear nonproliferation as being a primary goal. Especially after the invasion of Ukraine... It's also worth acknowledging that South Korea has some fanatical war hawks that would legitimately love to start a war with the north if the opportunity arose. It's a big reason why SK is not part of NATO, they're too high risk.
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UnlikelyHero727@reddit

lol, they are not part of NATO for the same reason why Australia isn't, they are no where close to the North Atlantic. Also with the new administration wrecking havoc, nuclear proliferation is 1 minute away, as soon as it happens in Europe the rest of the world will follow.
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INITMalcanis@reddit

Neither is Turkiye.
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Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_48899.htm
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SmileyBMM@reddit

See my comment here: https://reddit.com/comments/1ja0hg2/comment/mhie4zt NATO was made as a North Atlantic organization primarily to avoid getting involved in Asia. There was a very real concern that if countries like China, South Korea, India, and Japan were allowed to join they could drag Europe into another world war (or vice versa, Europe dragging Asia into pointless wars to preserve colonial holdings). Of course I think this was short sighted and accidentally prevented Europe from properly collaborating with Asian countries and maintaining meaningful influence in the region (America just created different treaties that serve similar objectives). Of course it's presumptuous to assume that Asia wouldn't have done so in this hypothetical reality, but I think the benefit of hindsight shows these fears were overblown. Personally I think we should let many additional countries into NATO, but the approval process is strict enough that I don't see it happening.
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BcDownes@reddit

> It's a big reason why SK is not part of NATO I would say its location is a bigger reason as to why they cant join the North ATLANTIC Treaty Organization
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Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit

It's president literally tried to bring in martial law on 3rd of December 2024. People have really really short memories it seems.
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SmileyBMM@reddit

NATO was basically created that way to deny getting involved in Asia. Mainly because the founding members did not trust Asian countries to avoid war and they didn't want to get involved with European interests in the region (colonies declaring independence).
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hackenclaw@reddit

then Samsung can go ahead to fab for Huawei's chip for fat $$$ lol
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advester@reddit

SK has their own reasons for distrusting the CCP, it isn't at America's request.
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MediocreAd8440@reddit

they REALLY want everyone to use non us tech or something 🤣
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Appropriate372@reddit

They just don't want SK developing nuclear weapons.
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AuspiciousApple@reddit

"Please reconsider whether you wouldn't rather align with China after all"
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acc_agg@reddit

Xi Jinpin seriously sweating now worrying if the us is really this dumb or if they've kidnapped him and put him in the matrix to extract Chinese state secrets.
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Roxalon_Prime@reddit

In a dream within a dream. US really should stop using its currency and technology as a weapon. Preferably against everyone, but at least against it allies it's just outright stupid
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bluehands@reddit

I would really love the if we stopped using the USA's technologies and currency against the USA...
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Suspect4pe@reddit

It makes me wonder if they're trying to slow our tech advancements. It really don't make sense otherwise. Is it climate change? Is it intentionally trying to damage the country and set us back? I don't know.
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Specialist-Big-3520@reddit

Did you read the article or just blabbering nonsense
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ExtremeFreedom@reddit

They don't believe in climate change.
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Suspect4pe@reddit

No, they believe in it. They're paid to do prop up fossil fuels.
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hardware-ModTeam@reddit

Thank you for your submission! Unfortunately, your submission has been removed for the following reason: * It is unrelated to computer hardware.
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CammKelly@reddit

Trying to stop South Korea from independently developing a nuclear capability might as well be like putting your finger in a dyke, it might stop the damn from bursting for a short period, but the reality is South Korea will be nuclear armed by the end of the year if it wants to.
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DerpSenpai@reddit

I mean Samsung is one of the worlds leading nuclear companies. There are european countries buying samsung nuclear tech
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CammKelly@reddit

Pretty well much, which makes the US move here more even more head scratching, but then again, what if anything is rational from the US in the last 2 months.
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Consistent_Research6@reddit

Any more advanced country than USA is a "sensitive country" for USA. We know since the cold war how thay hate it when someone is more advanced than them. Guess what........ there are many more advanced than them.
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ElementII5@reddit

What ally is next? Japan?
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ledfrisby@reddit

> Politicians of the People Power Party, such as lawmakers Na Kyung-won, Yoon Sang-hyun, Yu Yong-weon and Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, are strong champions of South Korea becoming a nuclear power. Some within the opposition Democratic Party of Korea are also discussing the need to obtain nuclear latency — the potential to develop nuclear weapons when necessary, though not beforehand. Kind of ironic that the PPP, which is way more pro-US than the Democratic party, has done more to precipitate this.
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Specialist-Big-3520@reddit

for those reading the titles only, this is from the article. “Analysts read the decision as the US government sending a stern warning to counter the calls for independent nuclear armament that have recently been surfacing in South Korea.”
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Kougar@reddit

Not even a kid in a candy store could cause this much collateral damage this fast. It's amazing what a difference that four years of preparation and planning can actually do versus none at all.
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Jeep-Eep@reddit

The kid has the brains to realize that going ape shitt will ruin the candy.
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blueberrytoppart@reddit

I hate him too for so many reasons, but this is a list that I use and the previous administration issued the guidance on Jan 15th 2025.
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SmileyBMM@reddit

Yeah, it's obvious people didn't read the article. This is South Korea politics news more than anything else.
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