WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ahn Chong-ghee, Co-Chairs of the U.S.-ROK High Level Bilateral Commission (HLBC), met in Washington, D.C. this week to review the HLBC’s ongoing activities.
The HLBC was established by the 2015 U.S.-ROK “Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy,” commonly referred to as the U.S.-ROK 123 Agreement. As described in the U.S.-ROK 123 Agreement, the HLBC serves as a senior level forum to facilitate peaceful nuclear and strategic cooperation in areas of mutual interest related to civil nuclear energy.
The HLBC’s work is coordinated by four Working Groups through which experts are collaborating on spent fuel management, the promotion of nuclear exports and export control cooperation, assured fuel supply, and nuclear security. The Working Groups were formally launched at the first HLBC meeting, which was held in Seoul in April 2016.
“Vice Minister Ahn and I value the progress made to date by the High Level Bilateral Commission’s working groups,” said Deputy Secretary Sherwood-Randall. “The scope of their activities demonstrates our countries’ mutual commitment to enhancing our long-standing and close cooperation on civil nuclear energy and nonproliferation under our 123 Agreement.”
The meeting included presentations by the U.S. and ROK co-chairs of the four Working Groups, who represent the U.S. Department of Energy and the ROK Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Industry and Energy, and Science, ICT and Future Planning.
Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall
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Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall served as Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy from October 10, 2014 to January 19, 2017.
She joined the Obama Administration on day one, serving from 2009 to 2013 as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council and from 2013 to 2014 as White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control.
Before joining President Obama’s team, Dr. Sherwood-Randall worked at Stanford University, at Harvard University, and at the Council on Foreign Relations. In the Clinton Administration, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia from 1994 to 1996.
Dr. Sherwood-Randall attended college at Harvard and then went on to graduate school at Oxford University, where she was among the very early ranks of female Rhodes Scholars. After finishing her education, she began her career working for then-Senator Joe Biden as his chief advisor on foreign and defense policy.
Born and raised in California, she is married to Dr. Jeff Randall, a neurosurgeon, and they have two teenaged sons.
