KHNP president offers to resign amid controversy over settlement deal with Westinghouse
Whang Joo-ho, president of the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., answes lawmakers' questions during a parliamentary audit in Seoul, Aug. 19. Yonhap
Whang Joo-ho, president of the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP), has offered to step down, industry sources said Wednesday, amid controversy over KHNP's dispute settlement deal with U.S. energy firm Westinghouse signed earlier this year.
Whang's resignation offer comes as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is investigating whether the deal between the KHNP and Westinghouse was signed under due procedure amid criticism the Korean company may have entered into an unfair agreement with the U.S. firm.
Last month, media reports suggested the KHNP has been prohibited from bidding for new nuclear power plant projects in North America and the European Union, excluding the Czech Republic, under the Westinghouse deal.
The 50-year deal is also said to include provisions requiring the KHNP to sign a goods and services purchase contract worth about $650 million with Westinghouse per export of a single nuclear reactor, and to pay $175 million per reactor in technology licensing fees.
The KHNP and Westinghouse signed the settlement in January this year after the latter accused the Korean firm of infringing on its intellectual property, claiming the KHNP's APR 1000 and APR1400 plant designs utilize its licensed technology.
The deal had removed a major hurdle for a KHNP-led Korean consortium to sign a final contract in June for an estimated 26 trillion-won deal to build two nuclear power units in the Czech Republic.