President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that countries participating in this month’s Nuclear Security Summit are expected to make specific commitments to reduce fissile material stockpiles in an effort to help realize a world without nuclear weapons.

“Currently, radioactive materials that can be utilized to make as many as some 130,000 nuclear weapons are scattered around the globe. The objective of the Nuclear Security Summit is to prevent such nuclear materials from falling into the hands of terrorist groups,” Lee said during his biweekly radio address.

“Moreover, it is aiming at ultimately making a world without nuclear weapons by reducing the amount of nuclear materials around the world to a minimum level and tightening control of them. During the summit, many participating countries are expected to present concrete pledges on this issue.”

The March 26-27 summit is expected to draw representatives from 58 countries and international organizations, including some 48 heads of state, including U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Obama hosted the inaugural summit in 2010.

“Whereas the Washington Nuclear Security Summit held in 2010 served mainly as a venue to proclaim a shared awareness of the need for nuclear security, the upcoming Seoul summit is expected to produce more advanced and concrete action plans through a Seoul communique,” Lee said.

“The communique is expected to encompass ways to enhance government control over radioactive substances and to strengthen cooperation among nations to prevent illegal trafficking of nuclear materials,” he said.

Lee also said it carries added significance for South Korea “to stand at the center of discussions on global nuclear security” because the country is directly exposed to a nuclear threat from North Korea. Seoul’s hosting of the summit is also expected to help broaden global support for the North’s denuclearization, he said. 

(Yonhap News)