By Park Si-soo
President Park Geun-hye's trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an embarrassment to many citizens because the entire nation remains in a state of deepening grief following the Sewol disaster, which is her biggest political crisis yet.
Nonetheless, Park went on her trip to the UAE, which her aides said was "crucial for the sake of the country's interests."
The main purpose of her two-day visit to the Middle East nation was to attend a ceremony Tuesday marking the installation of a Korean-made nuclear reactor at a power plant built by Korean power company KEPCO. It's the first indigenous nuclear reactor installed outside the country, the presidential office said, adding that this event heralds recognition of Korea's nuclear reactor technology overseas.
"The UAE cordially invited the President to the ceremony. But a bigger reason (for her visit) was fears that if she didn't accept, our national interests could be badly affected," said Cho Won-dong, a senior presidential economic secretary, ahead of Park's departure to the UAE. "Given all of these things, the President decided to participate in the event."
Park, accompanied by Minister for Trade Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jik and Foreign Minister Yoon Byung-se, is scheduled to meet with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who wields powerful influence on the country's nuclear energy policy. The Prince is said to have played an important role behind the UAE's purchasing of the Korean nuclear reactor. The two leaders met in Seoul in February and agreed to deepen Korea-UAE cooperation in the nuclear energy and construction sectors.
"This event means a lot to Korea's nuclear energy industry," said Chung Hae-in, an official at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's nuclear plant export promotion division. "The installation means the UAE government has fully recognized Korean nuclear reactors and related technologies we have. The recognition will make it easier for Korea to sell more products to other Middle East nations."
Chung said three more Korea-made nuclear reactors will be installed in the UAE by 2020.
"A growing number of Middle eastern nations are paying attention to nuclear energy for economic and environmental reasons," he said. "We hope this event will give an impetus in exporting more nuclear reactors and other related facilities and technologies to this region."
According to the energy ministry, KEPCO is in talks with the governments of Saudi Arabia and Vietnam to built nuclear power plants in those countries. KEPCO's affiliate, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, is negotiating with the Finnish government for the same purpose.
"Following the Fukushima disaster, many countries tried to reduce their dependence on nuclear energy and started looking for other energy sources that are less risky and more efficient than nuclear power. But all of these efforts ended up in failure and many of these countries have resumed or are poised to resume using nuclear energy. This shows that the nuclear energy market still has a big growth potential," the official said.
He said the demand for nuclear power is on the rise in advancing countries, including China and Russia.
President Park Geun-hye's trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an embarrassment to many citizens because the entire nation remains in a state of deepening grief following the Sewol disaster, which is her biggest political crisis yet.
Nonetheless, Park went on her trip to the UAE, which her aides said was "crucial for the sake of the country's interests."
The main purpose of her two-day visit to the Middle East nation was to attend a ceremony Tuesday marking the installation of a Korean-made nuclear reactor at a power plant built by Korean power company KEPCO. It's the first indigenous nuclear reactor installed outside the country, the presidential office said, adding that this event heralds recognition of Korea's nuclear reactor technology overseas.
"The UAE cordially invited the President to the ceremony. But a bigger reason (for her visit) was fears that if she didn't accept, our national interests could be badly affected," said Cho Won-dong, a senior presidential economic secretary, ahead of Park's departure to the UAE. "Given all of these things, the President decided to participate in the event."
Park, accompanied by Minister for Trade Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jik and Foreign Minister Yoon Byung-se, is scheduled to meet with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who wields powerful influence on the country's nuclear energy policy. The Prince is said to have played an important role behind the UAE's purchasing of the Korean nuclear reactor. The two leaders met in Seoul in February and agreed to deepen Korea-UAE cooperation in the nuclear energy and construction sectors.
"This event means a lot to Korea's nuclear energy industry," said Chung Hae-in, an official at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's nuclear plant export promotion division. "The installation means the UAE government has fully recognized Korean nuclear reactors and related technologies we have. The recognition will make it easier for Korea to sell more products to other Middle East nations."
Chung said three more Korea-made nuclear reactors will be installed in the UAE by 2020.
"A growing number of Middle eastern nations are paying attention to nuclear energy for economic and environmental reasons," he said. "We hope this event will give an impetus in exporting more nuclear reactors and other related facilities and technologies to this region."
According to the energy ministry, KEPCO is in talks with the governments of Saudi Arabia and Vietnam to built nuclear power plants in those countries. KEPCO's affiliate, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, is negotiating with the Finnish government for the same purpose.
"Following the Fukushima disaster, many countries tried to reduce their dependence on nuclear energy and started looking for other energy sources that are less risky and more efficient than nuclear power. But all of these efforts ended up in failure and many of these countries have resumed or are poised to resume using nuclear energy. This shows that the nuclear energy market still has a big growth potential," the official said.
He said the demand for nuclear power is on the rise in advancing countries, including China and Russia.
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