Rim Kap-soo, a veteran nuclear nonproliferation specialist and career diplomat, has been appointed South Korea’s lead negotiator in talks with the U.S. over expanding Seoul’s rights to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel.

Rim’s portfolio places him at the center of the Lee Jae Myung administration’s push for greater civil nuclear autonomy and, just as importantly, Washington’s concerns over precedent and restraint.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Dec. 23 that Rim, currently ambassador to Romania, was appointed the previous day as Seoul’s representative to a bilateral U.S.-ROK nuclear cooperation task force established to follow up on the joint