What is the ”sensitive country” designated by the US? What impact will this have on US-South Korea relations?

Reuters reported on the 15th that the U.S. Department of Energy, which manages U.S. nuclear weapons, has designated South Korea as a "sensitive country." Sensitive countries are countries that the U.S. government has designated as "sensitive countries" for the purposes of nuclear non-proliferation and security.
The current list includes China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Israel. The reason why the U.S. Department of Energy designated South Korea as a sensitive country is unclear.
It is not clear, but it is possible that the US government is concerned about the growing calls for nuclear armament in South Korea as North Korea accelerates its nuclear and missile development.
In a public opinion poll conducted by the Korea Institute for National Unification from 2021 to 2023, 60% of South Koreans answered the question, "Should South Korea become nuclear-armed?"
Between 0 and 70 percent answered "yes." Surveys conducted by other organizations also showed that between 50 and 70 percent supported possessing nuclear weapons. The reason for the growing calls for the promotion of nuclear development and nuclear armament in South Korea is
Professor Scott Sagan of Stanford University in the United States cited three reasons for this: ensuring national security, national prestige, and the influence of the nuclear community. South Korea has repeatedly conducted missile launch tests,
Given the threat of nuclear-armed North Korea, it is clear that concerns about security are growing against this backdrop.
South Korea secretly developed nuclear weapons in the 1970s.
When the United States became aware of this, it forced the South Korean government to choose between continuing its nuclear program or using the existing US nuclear weapons to defend South Korea. The South Korean government chose to accept US support,
To this day, U.S. troops remain stationed on the Korean Peninsula. In April 2023, the British public broadcaster BBC published an article on its news website entitled "Why South Korea Wants Nuclear Weapons" by its Seoul correspondent.
In the article, the correspondent wrote, "North Korea is building ever more sophisticated nuclear weapons that can target cities across the United States. Even in such a situation, the United States will protect South Korea."
"The Korean people are questioning whether or not the North Korean government is planning to develop nuclear weapons," the correspondent said.
"The scenario they (the lunchtime participants, including politicians, scientists, and military personnel) are pondering is this: a belligerent North Korea
Kim Jung Eun attacks South Korea, forcing the US to intervene. Kim then threatens to detonate a nuclear bomb on the US mainland if the US does not withdraw.
If that were to happen, what would the US government do? Would they risk turning San Francisco into rubble in order to save Seoul? The secret to lunchtime news is that they probably wouldn't do that.
"This is the conclusion of those who attended the secret meeting," he said. In 2016, U.S. President Trump accused South Korea of freeloading on the U.S. defense posture. He offered to make the South Korean government pay for the cost of stationing U.S. troops in South Korea, or else.
Trump, who was re-elected as president in January this year, is likely to be remembered by many South Koreans for the words he once uttered.
With the inauguration of the second Trump administration, doubts are growing in South Korea as to whether the United States will protect it from the threat of North Korea. On the 15th, Reuters reported that the US Department of Energy had announced that South Korea would be
The Biden administration added South Korea to the list of sensitive countries just before the Trump administration took office. According to Reuters, the designation was made
The designation will come into effect on April 15. Even after the designation, there will be no restrictions on science and technology cooperation with South Korea, but South Korean news agency Yonhap News reported that "researchers from former members of countries designated as sensitive countries will be restricted from participating in related research projects at the Ministry of Energy."
The Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo also reported that "there is a possibility that the AI joint research platform that Korea and the United States have been promoting since last year and the next generation business will be restricted."
"This will inevitably hinder the development of quantum computers, which are regarded as a fundamental technology."