[News Today] No Deal Yet, But Not Over

[LEAD]
We reported about the halt in South Korea's major nuclear power plant deal with the Czech Republic, due to a court order. Both the Korean and Czech governments are now working swiftly to contain the fallout, insisting the contract has not collapsed. Seoul says even Prague didn't expect the injunction.

[REPORT]
Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun had left for the Czech Republic to wrap up the nuclear power plant deal.

But he came home empty-handed after Korea's French competitor and the Czech court put the brakes on the project.

When criticized for heading to Prague without considering the possibility of the French energy company filing an injunction, Minister Ahn explained that even the Czech government couldn't foresee the move.

Ahn Duk-geun / Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy
Nobody could have predicted such a result.

However, the Korean government said everything is ready except for signing the contract.

The Czech government also pre-approved the contract so that the deal can be concluded once the court gives its approval.

Petr Fiala / Czech prime minister
I gave my approval so that the contract with the supplier could be concluded once it becomes possible.

Both the Czech government which stands to pay more with the delay and Korea which wants to close the plant construction deal want a quick conclusion.

So the two governments and their industries see the chances of the contract falling through as low.

However, it's uncertain when the Czech court would hand down its decision and political factors like the October general elections in the Czech Republic could hinder the process.

French energy company EDF which filed the injunction continues to accuse Korea of dumping the construction cost.

Prof. Chung Bum-jin / Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee Univ.
The French engineers want to blame the Korean government subsidy for the low price generated by industrial competitiveness, but it's groundless nit-picking.

Meanwhile, there was concern inside Korea that the project's profit was set too low, but the government replied that the capacity of the Korean consortium rather than the cost was recognized.