South Korea, US hold vice-ministerial nuclear energy talks after Lee-Trump summit

Seoul, Aug 27
Senior officials of South Korea and the United States discussed ways to boost cooperation in nuclear energy on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, following investment announcements by South Korean companies during this week's summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump.

Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Ji-na held the talks with US Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member economies in the southeastern port city of Busan, the ministry said in a release.

The two sides noted "meaningful" discussions that have taken place regarding nuclear energy cooperation at Monday's summit between Lee and Trump in Washington, and agreed to make efforts to advance the partnership going forward.

"Vice Minister Kim proposed the two countries work to deepen nuclear energy cooperation in a way that will contribute to strengthening the bilateral alliance, with Deputy Secretary Danly reaffirming commitment to enhancing such cooperation," the ministry said.

Noting the brisk business partnerships in the small modular reactor (SMR) sector, the two sides agreed to work closely together for those private sector projects to gain further momentum.

On the occasion of the summit, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Doosan Enerbility inked a preliminary deal with the US' X-energy and Amazon Web Services for collaboration on SMR design, construction and supply chains.

KHNP signed another project with Fermi on SMR construction, together with Samsung C&T, and a separate joint investment deal with Centrus on a uranium enrichment facility.

Doosan Enerbility clinched an agreement with Fermi to supply nuclear and SMR equipment for an American artificial intelligence project, Yonhap news agency reported.

About 53 per cent of South Koreans held a favourable view of President Lee Jae Myung's first summit talks with US President Donald Trump earlier this week, a poll showed on Wednesday.

According to the Realmetre survey commissioned by a local news outlet, 53.1 per cent gave a positive assessment of the bilateral summit between Lee and Trump in Washington, compared with 41.5 per cent who gave a negative assessment.

During the White House summit, Lee and Trump closely aligned on efforts for shipbuilding cooperation and diplomacy to re-engage with North Korea.

Of the total respondents, 60.7 per cent said progress had been made through the summit, compared with 34.6 per cent who believed there was no progress.