South Korea Says $18 Billion Czech Nuclear Deal Still on Track Despite Court Suspension

South Korean officials played down a Czech court's decision to suspend an $18 billion project for South Korea to build two nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic. On Wednesday they called it a temporary setback and said they were confident the agreement would eventually proceed.

A South Korean consortium led by the state-owned Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power had expected to finalize the deal this week with a subsidiary of CEZ, the Czech Republic's largest electricity supplier. But a Czech court barred CEZ from signing the contract while it reviews a complaint from French company EDF, which lost the bidding to the South Koreans.

South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Dukgeun told reporters in Prague that the ruling would only delay the formal signing of the contract. He said all other procedures would continue as scheduled, assuming the deal goes ahead. According to Ahn, the Czech government clearly had not anticipated the court's decision to pause the agreement, and CEZ plans to appeal.

It is not clear when the Czech Supreme Administrative Court might rule on that appeal.

"The Czech government did not consider (EDF's claims) a major problem and invited us to the scheduled signing ceremony," Ahn said. "It appears the Czech government's judgment did not match the court's ruling."

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday that his government respects the court's decision. He added: "I believe the judges and the court realize how important this decision is and its impact on the security of the Czech Republic and our national interests."

Lee Ju-Ho, South Korea's acting president, said Seoul will communicate closely with the Czech side to ensure the agreement is finalized quickly.

CEZ chose KHNP over EDF last July as its preferred bidder to build two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors at the Dukovany plant. EDF filed its complaint with the court last week, after the Czech Republic's competition regulator rejected its appeal over the tender process.

The dispute comes as South Korea's nuclear export ambitions are in focus. Conservative former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office last month over his failed imposition of martial law in December, had pledged to boost the country's nuclear exports. He argued they had suffered under the previous liberal government's push to reduce domestic reliance on nuclear power. Yoon's government had set a goal of exporting 10 nuclear reactors by 2030.