First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo (right) and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker arrive for follow-up consultations on the bilateral nuclear cooperation initiative at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Tuesday. (Foreign Ministry) South Korea and the United States have agreed to accelerate talks, following the first working-level consultations this week on plans for Seoul's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.According to Seoul's Foreign Ministry on Friday, the two countries held a two-day meeting in Seoul this week to launch follow-up discussions on nuclear cooperation outlined in a joint fact sheet released after last year's summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump.The consultations began Tuesday with an opening session led by First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker. Sector-specific discussions involving interagency delegations from both countries followed.The South Korean delegation included officials from the National Security Office; the Foreign Ministry; the Ministry of Science and ICT; the Defense Ministry; the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment; and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.The US side included representatives from the White House National Security Council, the State Department, the Department of Energy and the US Embassy in Seoul.Talks focused on issues related to South Korea's nuclear-powered submarine ambitions and broader nuclear cooperation. Discussions also covered uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing under the bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement, the ministry added.The current agreement, which remains in effect through 2035, requires US consent for South Korea to enrich low-enriched uranium below 20 percent and prohibits spent fuel reprocessing.The Foreign Ministry said both sides agreed to establish a mechanism to review progress throughout the year and accelerate future consultations in order to produce substantive results at an early date.The US State Department issued a similar statement, saying the two countries agreed to pursue visible outcomes as quickly as possible and establish a framework to monitor progress.According to local reports, the two sides also discussed a timeline for future talks, with a second round of consultations expected as early as July.