South Korean Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jung-kwan met newly inaugurated Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his counterpart Karel Havlicek in Prague on Monday (local time) at the Czech government's invitation, Seoul's industry ministry said Wednesday.
The two ministers agreed to set up a joint committee that will convene three to four times a year, either virtually or in person, to monitor progress and coordinate support for the project. Executives from Czech project company Elektrarna Dukovany II and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) will also take part, with the first session held the same day.
Kim delivered a personal letter from South Korean President Lee Jae Myung congratulating Babis on his December inauguration, the ministry said.
On the sidelines of the talks, Doosan Enerbility signed a deal worth about 320 billion won with its Czech subsidiary Doosan Skoda Power to supply steam turbines and turbine control systems for Dukovany units 5 and 6. The contract marks the first large-scale collaboration between a "Team Korea" member and a local Czech firm, reflecting Prague's emphasis on localization from the project's early stages.
Under the main contract signed in June last year, KHNP will build two 1,000-megawatt APR1000 reactors — South Korea's homegrown pressurised water reactor design — at the Dukovany site. The previous Czech government also agreed to give KHNP priority negotiating rights for two additional units planned at the Temelin plant.
"The Dukovany project transcends a mere infrastructure undertaking — it will stand as a symbol of robust solidarity and cooperation between our two nations for decades to come, and a chance to reaffirm Korean nuclear competitiveness on the world stage, following the Barakah plant in the UAE," Kim said on his return to Seoul.
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