SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials on Wednesday sought to mitigate the impact of a Czech court’s decision to postpone an $18 billion project for South Korea to construct two nuclear reactors in the country, characterizing it as a transient obstacle and voicing certainty that the agreement will ultimately be realized.

A South Korean group, led by the state-owned Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, thought they would finish the deal this week with a company that is part of CEZ, the biggest electricity provider in the Czech Republic. But a court in the Czech Republic stopped CEZ from signing the contract while it looks at a complaint from the French company EDF, which did not win the bid against the South Koreans.

South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Dukgeun informed reporters in Prague that the court’s ruling would merely postpone the formal contract signing, and that, assuming the deal's eventual completion, all other processes would continue as planned. He indicated the Czech government had evidently not foreseen the court's decision to temporarily halt the agreement, and that CEZ intends to challenge the ruling.

The timeframe for the Czech Supreme Administrative Court's ruling on that appeal remains uncertain.

"The Czech government apparently did not consider EDF’s claims a significant issue and proceeded to extend an invitation for the planned signing ceremony," Ahn remarked, adding, "It appears the Czech government’s assessment was inconsistent with the court’s decision."

On Wednesday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said his government respects the court's decision. He then added, "I believe that the judges and the court understand how important this decision is and how it affects the security of the Czech Republic and our national interests."

Lee Ju-Ho, South Korea’s acting president, stated that Seoul would maintain close communication with the Czech Republic to facilitate the swift finalization of the agreement.

In July, CEZ designated KHNP as the favoured bidder for the construction of two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors at the Dukovany facility, bypassing EDF. Subsequently, EDF lodged a court action last week following the rejection of its appeal concerning the bidding procedure by the Czech Republic’s competition authority.

Prior to his removal last month, following an unsuccessful attempt to impose martial law in December, South Korea's former conservative President, Yoon Suk Yeol, had committed to increasing the nation's nuclear power exports. He contended that these exports had declined during the preceding liberal administration's efforts to decrease domestic dependence on nuclear energy. Yoon's government had established a target of exporting 10 nuclear power reactors by 2030.