SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials on Wednesday minimised the significance of a Czech court’s decision to suspend an $18 billion project for South Korea to construct two nuclear reactors in the country, characterising it as a transient obstacle and conveying assurance that the agreement will ultimately materialise.

A group from South Korea, 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 company 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 all remaining processes were expected to continue as planned, contingent upon the successful conclusion of the deal. He indicated that the Czech government evidently had not foreseen the court's decision to suspend the agreement, and that CEZ intended to appeal.

The timing of a potential ruling by the Czech Supreme Administrative Court on that appeal remains uncertain.

Ahn said the Czech government didn't see EDF's claims as a big issue and still invited them to the signing ceremony. He added that the government's view seemed different from the court's decision.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated on Wednesday that his government acknowledges the court's ruling, subsequently remarking: "I trust that the judges and the court appreciate the significance of this decision and its consequences for the security of the Czech Republic and our national interests."

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

In July, CEZ chose KHNP instead of EDF to build two large nuclear reactors at the Dukovany power plant. EDF went to court last week because the Czech Republic's competition office said no to their complaint about how the bidding was done.

Before he was removed last month because of the failed martial law in December, former conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had promised to increase the country's nuclear power exports. He said they had decreased under the previous liberal government, which tried to reduce the use of nuclear energy at home. Yoon's government had a goal to export 10 nuclear power reactors by 2030.