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| President Park Geun-hye shakes hands with Czech President Milos Zeman before their summit at Prague Castle in the Czech capital, Wednesday. / Yonhap |
Park seeks support for nuclear reactor project at summit
By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye asked her Czech counterpart Milos Zeman during a summit Wednesday to help Korean firms participate in the European nation's project to build two new nuclear reactors.
The Czech Republic plans to build the reactors at the Temelin and Dukovany nuclear plants that generate about 40 percent of the nation's electricity output, with the project estimated to cost $15 billion (17.4 trillion won).
It will put the project up for bidding next year.
Park arrived in Prague earlier in the day after attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.
Her summit with the Czech leader focused on expanding economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
Her visit is the first in 20 years by a Korean President following the late President Kim Young-sam, who travelled there in 1995. It also took place on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
In May, the Czech government announced a long-term energy plan relying on nuclear power and renewable energy. In addition, the country plans to expand the established power plants.
With the Czech Republic emerging as a "blue chip" in the global nuclear market, President Park has worked hard on the participation of Korean companies in the project.
In February, Park met with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka at Cheong Wa Dae and expressed Korea's interest in his country's nuclear project, with the two sides agreeing to cooperate in the nuclear power sector.
The Czech side also showed interest in Korea's nuclear technology, as evidenced by Sobotka's visit to Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, during which he asked the company to join the Czech project.
Among the possible bidders for the project are American Westinghouse Electric Company, Russia's Rosatom Nuclear Energy Corp., French nuclear energy multinational Areva as well as Korean and Chinese companies.
After the summit, Park and Zeman observed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) calling for cooperation in nuclear power.
Korea hopes the MOU could pave the way for the country to make inroads into the Czech market for nuclear power plant construction.
"Korea and the Czech Republic can get a win-win result if the Czech Republic capitalizes on Korea's strength in pushing for the construction of new nuclear reactors," Park said in a written interview published Wednesday in Hospodarske Noviny, an economic daily.
The two sides also inked other MOUs calling for cooperation in health care, information and communications technologies, and the culture industry.
Also, President Park plans to discuss the nation's possible participation in envisaged nuclear projects of the Visegrad Group ― Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Park and the leaders of the countries are scheduled to hold a summit on Thursday.
Poland and Slovakia are considering building new nuclear reactors in order to meet the European Union's emissions reduction target.
"On the occasion of visiting the Czech Republic, the government is in negotiations with the Visegrad Group over Korea's possible participation in their national projects," said a Cheong Wa Dae official.
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