Our top story this morning...
Korea is marking the installation of a nuclear
reactor at a power plant in the United Arab
Emirates.
It's the first atomic reactor Korea has developed
and exported to a foreign country.
In honor of the occasion,...
President Park Geun-hye flew to the Gulf nation
this week to attend an installation ceremony.
Connie Lee reports.
For the first time ever, a Korean nuclear
reactor will be installed overseas in the
United Arab Emirates.
It's part of a 19-billion-U.S. dollar contract
Korea won to build four nuclear plants in
the Gulf nation by the year 2020.
To mark the occasion, President Park Geun-hye
and the UAE's deputy prime minister Mansour
bin Zayed Al Nahyan attended a ceremony at
the Barakah nuclear plant site Tuesday, some
3-hundred kilometers west of the capital Abu
Dhabi.
The presidential office in Seoul says the
533-ton reactor, which recently passed the
UAE nuclear regulator's safety tests, symbolizes
the global recognition of Korea's nuclear
reactor technology and safety.
Seoul and Abu Dhabi also signed three memorandums
of understanding, through which Korea hopes
to create job opportunities for young Koreans
in the Arab nation.
The MOUs include the Emirates Nuclear Energy
Corporation hiring some 10 Korean engineering
graduates each year, and the two countries
jointly fostering their service industries
in the nuclear sector.
Sitting down with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan after the ceremony,
President Park discussed two-way cooperation
in the areas of energy, construction, medicine
and finance.
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"The Barakah Nuclear plant is more than just
a construction deal... it's a symbol of the
bond that will tie our two countries over
the next 100 years."
, 100 .
Despite the Sewol-ho ferry disaster, officials
say President Park made the short two-day
trip in consideration of future economic cooperation
between the two nations.
Before heading home, she met with members
of Korea's Ark military unit,... which has
been deployed to the UAE since 2011 as part
of Seoul-Abu Dhabi military cooperation.
Connie Lee, Arirang News.
