Global Security Newswire

The security of radiation sources used broadly in medicine and other civilian sectors is expected to be on the agenda of the 2012 nuclear security summit scheduled for March in South Korea, the Korea Herald reported on Tuesday (see GSN, Dec. 13).

The planned two-day event in Seoul is a follow-up to the 2010 Washington summit in which leaders from nearly 50 countries pledged their support for the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world within four years.

"Terrorism using nuclear materials such as highly enriched uranium and plutonium would have a massive impact, but the probability is low. While terrorism using radioactive materials, widely used in hospitals, would have a smaller impact but the probability is high," according to a South Korean Foreign Ministry official.

"Korea, as a host, persuaded participating countries to discuss the issue of radioactive materials at the upcoming nuclear security summit," the source added.

Seoul expects to host leaders from 47 nations and the chiefs of the United Nations, International Atomic Energy Agency, European Union and Interpol, the newspaper reported. The Foreign Ministry official could not say whether North Korea would accept a tentative offer to participate, which would be dependent on a demonstration of the Kim regime's commitment to nuclear disarmament (Kim Yoon-mi, Korea Herald, Dec. 13).