WASHINGTON — South Korea and the United States have yet to reach an agreement on a Korean equity investment in nuclear power company Westinghouse, Reuters reported on the 21st, citing a source.
The Westinghouse stake is one of the central sticking points in ongoing talks over Korean investment in the U.S. According to political sources, the Korean government entered the negotiations aiming to secure a stake of about 20% in connection with a project to build eight new nuclear reactors in the United States, but Washington has capped the stake in the 7% range.
Korea has sought a stake of about 20% along with board representation and other substantive voting rights, seeking to improve unfavorable contract terms agreed when it won the Czech nuclear plant order and to strengthen its competitiveness in future overseas nuclear bids. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reported to the National Assembly the same day that a gas-fired power plant project in Texas is a candidate to become the first project under the U.S. investment package, the source told Reuters.
Reuters noted that further delays in implementing the Korea-U.S. trade agreement risk renewed friction between the two countries. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also stressed the swift implementation of the investment commitments when he met Foreign Minister Cho Hyun in Washington on the 18th.
