Yoon to visit Prague next week to forge 'nuclear energy alliance'

First Deputy Director of National Security Office Kim Tae-hyo (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit the Czech Republic Thursday next week to forge the so-called "nuclear energy alliance," the presidential office said Thursday. The official visit comes ahead of next year's signing of South Korean firms' nuclear power plant construction bid valued at around 24 trillion won ($17.9 billion).

It is the first visit by a South Korean leader to Central Europe's manufacturing powerhouse in nine years. Yoon will "convey the strong willingness of 'Team Korea' to cooperate with the Czech Republic and lay out 'salesman-like diplomacy' to ensure the nuclear power deal could reach a conclusion," said Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy director of the National Security Office, in a briefing.

"Yoon's visit to Prague will allow South Korea and the Czech Republic to establish a nuclear energy alliance," Kim added.

Yoon will meet Czech President Petr Pavel on his first day in Prague and hold talks over foreign relations and defense strategies, followed by a joint press conference and an official dinner hosted by Pavel.

On day two, Yoon and Pavel will attend a joint business forum. Later that same day, Yoon and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala will visit a nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic, attend a working lunch, a signing ceremony of memoranda of understanding and hold a joint news conference.

Yoon will discuss matters related to the Czech Republic's economic and social policy with Fiala.

Later in the day, Yoon will hold talks with Czech Senate Speaker Milos Vystrcil and the parliament's lower house speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova.

Yoon, accompanied by first lady Kim Keon Hee, are set to return home Sunday.

According to the presidential office, Yoon will accompany South Korean business leaders representing over 50 companies here. More than 100 South Korean companies operate in the Czech Republic, making South Korea the fourth-largest investor in the country, following Germany, Japan and the United States.

Meanwhile, Yoon's visit to Prague next week will also lay the groundwork for South Korea to establish a nuclear energy alliance between South Korea and the United States, according to Yoon's office.

Kim's comment comes as Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, which leads the South Korean consortium chosen for the Czech nuclear project, has been engaged in a legal battle with US-based Westinghouse Electric over an intellectual property rights dispute, and faced Westinghouse's complaint over Prague's decision to select the KHNP-led consortium as the preferred bidder. The presidential office declined to further elaborate on the meaning of Kim's remarks.

By Son Ji-hyoung(consnow@heraldcorp.com)