Yoon, Fiala seek wider range of cooperation beyond nuclear energy

PRAGUE -- President Yoon Suk Yeol and the Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Friday adopted action plans to implement the strategic partnership between the two countries for the next three years, seeking a wider range of cooperation beyond South Korea's potential nuclear export to the Czech Republic.

Under the new action plan, effective 2025 -- or the 10th anniversary of the bilateral strategic partnership -- the area of cooperation between Seoul and Prague will no longer be limited to the potential 24 trillion-won ($18 billion) nuclear export deal.

The cooperation will also revolve around a wider range of industries, such as clean mobility, hydrogen technology, public transport, space activities, low-carbon technologies and national defense, according to the document adopted after bilateral talks held in Liechtenstein Palace in Prague, the Czech capital.

The two countries will also create cooperation centers for high-tech industries, including secondary batteries, future vehicles, semiconductors and robots in the Czech Republic, according to the action plan. Research projects in the areas of electric vehicles and EV batteries, hydrogen technologies, artificial intelligence, digital technologies, semiconductor development and production, photonics, advanced materials and machinery will also be encouraged.

In this vein, a total of 56 memoranda of understanding were signed during Yoon's official visit. Additionally, the newly-established Trade and Investment Promotion Framework and the ministerial-level Supply Chain and Energy Dialogue will further boost bilateral trade and investment. Trade between South Korea and the Czech Republic hit all-time highs in the past for years, while South Korea has been the largest non-European investor in the Czech Republic.

Yoon said after the talks that the two countries will "push for the all-out economic cooperation industry, energy and supply chain" by leveraging the Czech Republic's manufacturing prowess with South Korea's technological edge to seek economic breakthrough.

Yoon also said the finalization of the contract to build two 1,000-megawatt nuclear power units in Dukovany, Czech Republic, in March 2025 will allow the two countries to work together to institutionalize a comprehensive civil nuclear energy cooperation, from construction to research and human resources development.

These efforts will advance the relationship between Seoul and Prague to a "nuclear energy alliance," Yoon added.

Fiala said that the two countries have witnessed exemplary cases of bilateral business cooperation, as seen in Hyundai Motor and Nexen Tire. He also said he was interested in teaming up in the fields of small modular reactors, hydrogen technologies, military equipment and trains.

Fiala also told reporters at the press conference that he was invited to visit Seoul next year.