TOKYO, August 15 (RIA Novosti) – South Korean President Park Geun-hye has proposed creating a nuclear security advisory body in Northeast Asia, Kyodo News reported Friday.
“I propose creating a consultative body for nuclear safety in Northeast Asia with South Korea, China and Japan being the central participants,” the South Korean leader said Friday in a speech dedicated to the country’s National Liberation Day, marking the 69th anniversary of the end of Japan’s colonial rule.
"The United States, Russia, North Korea and Mongolia are also to take part in the body," Park added.
Additionally, the South Korean president urged North Korea to give up its nuclear program, following the example of Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Myanmar.
Earlier in March, Park also came up with a proposal to establish a “regional nuclear security dialogue” at the Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands.
South Korea currently operates 23 nuclear power plants, accounting for about a third of the country’s energy. Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, fears concerning the use of nuclear energy in the country have been on the rise. In May, South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission temporarily shut three reactors, because equipment had been supplied using fake documentation.
