South Korea and India signed a nuclear energy cooperation agreement

The pact, signed after summit talks between President Lee Myung-bak and visiting India’s President Pratibha Patil, is a requirement and provides legal ground for South Korea’s participation in India’s atomic power plant construction project. India now has 20 power-generating nuclear reactors in operation, six under construction and plans to build about 40 more by 2032. Russia, France and the U.S. have been active in India’s nuclear power plant construction projects. Seoul’s state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) has been seeking cooperation with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited to get into India’s nuclear power plant construction market. South Korea has been stepping up efforts to export nuclear power plants since Korean firms won a US$18.6 billion project in late 2009 to build four atomic power plants in the United Arab Emirates after beating their U.S., Japanese and French rivals. During the summit talks, Lee asked Patil for India’s cooperation for South Korea to get into the nuclear power plant business, the presidential office said in a statement. Lee also expressed hope for South Korea’s participation in India’s infrastructure construction projects, it said.