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Korea, Czech Republic vow to 'pursue' nuclear deal despite court delay

Published: 07 May. 2025, 22:05 Updated: 08 May. 2025, 18:06

SHIN MIN-HEE
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Four of the cooling towers of the Dukovany nuclear power plant rise high above the natural surroundings of Dukovany, the Czech Republic, on Sept. 27, 2011. [AP/YONHAP]

Korea and the Czech Republic made a series of announcements to publicly signal that they will continue discussions on the new Dukovany nuclear power plant project after a court blocked the official signing of the $18 billion deal.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun and his Czech counterpart, Lukas Vlcek, said Wednesday that they had "signed an agreement to successfully pursue the construction of the Dukovany power plant."

A Korean consortium led by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) had originally been scheduled to sign an $18 billion deal the same day for the construction of two nuclear units at the country's Dukovany power plant. A Czech court postponed the signing, however, after France's EDF, which had bid against KHNP for the project, sued to challenge its selection.

The two sides discussed economic cooperation and signed 14 agreements during a meeting attended by Ahn, delegations from the Korean government and National Assembly, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Milos Vystrcil, president of the Czech senate. Ahn and the Korean delegation discussed cooperation across energy, construction, infrastructure, science and technology. One memorandum of understanding, signed by the two trade ministers, concerns a joint response to the European Union's battery regulations.

“The two nations, celebrating 35 years of diplomacy and 10 years of strategic partnership, have established a deeper foundation of mutual trust,” Ahn said in a statement. Regarding the halt of the deal, Ahn said he will “maintain close communication to reach a final agreement as soon as possible.”

In a separate bilateral meeting, Trade Ministers Ahn and Vlcek discussed cooperation in not only nuclear power, but also high-tech sectors such as batteries, automobiles, research and development and training.

The Korean delegations also met Vystrcil to discuss broader bilateral cooperation at the parliamentary level on nuclear energy, advanced industries, infrastructure and construction.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]