A foreign ministry official speaks during a briefing in Seoul, March 13. Yonhap

Seoul takes the U.S. Department of Energy's decision to put South Korea on a "sensitive country" list "seriously," the foreign ministry said Saturday, while vowing to actively consult with Washington on the matter.

The Department of Energy (DOE) confirmed it designated South Korea in the lowest category of its "sensitive and other designated countries list" (SCL) in early January under the previous Biden administration.

If the addition goes into effect on April 15 as scheduled, it could make it hard for South Korea to join U.S. initiatives on advanced technologies, such as nuclear energy, artificial intelligence and quantum technology.

"(The government) will actively negotiate with (the United States) to prevent the designation from negatively affecting cooperation on energy and science technology between South Korea and the U.S.," the ministry official said.

The ministry has faced criticism over its apparent diplomatic failure to avert the DOE designation, as it is believed to have been unaware of the move until recently.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul told the National Assembly on Tuesday that the ministry is working to grasp the situation after having obtained such information through an "informal" channel.

Apparently mindful of criticism about Seoul's diplomatic incompetency, the official suggested Saturday that it was difficult to learn of related developments, saying the measure was apparently reviewed internally within the DOE with no information shared.

But the official declined to answer a question about when the ministry became aware of Seoul's addition to the SCL, reiterating that it informally grasped the DOE's move before a related news report first emerged Monday.

"We will continue to contact high-level officials at the DOE, the State Department and other related agencies and actively consult with them on the matter in order to rectify the list," the official said. "We will continue to make efforts to prevent it from affecting bilateral cooperation on science technology and energy." (Yonhap)