(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Seoul September 18 (QNA) - South Korea and the United States will have another round of talks on renewing a bilateral nuclear energy pact in Vienna this weekend Seoul's foreign ministry said. The delegates from South Korea and the US plan to hold the 11th round of negotiations in Austria on Sunday on the renewal of the accord over Seoul's civil nuclear energy use also known as the "123 agreement." The meeting will be held on the sidelines of a plenary meeting for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The pact signed in 1974 bans Seoul from enriching uranium and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel due to proliferation concerns South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap) reported. South Korea has been seeking to renew the accord in a bid to meet growing energy demand at home and help its exports of nuclear power plants. But the US has been reluctant to do so apparently due to a possible negative impact on its global nonproliferation campaign amid concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. South Korea has wanted to use the technology as it can help ease the headache of the disposal of nuclear waste in a country with a small territory. But Washington has been reluctant to allow South Korea to do so due to proliferation concerns. The two allies agreed to extend the agreement by two years to March 2016 in order to buy time for further negotiations. (QNA)
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