South Korea thinks the Czech court's decision to stop the $18 billion nuclear project for a while is just a small problem, and they are sure the deal will still happen.

A South Korean group, led by a state-owned company, expected to finish an agreement this week with a part of CEZ, the Czech Republic’s biggest electricity company. But a Czech court stopped CEZ from signing the contract. The court is looking at a complaint from a French company that lost the bid to the South Koreans.

South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Dukgeun told reporters that the court's decision would only delay the signing of the final contract. He said that if the deal happens, everything else would continue as planned. He also said that the Czech government did not expect the court to stop the agreement, and that CEZ plans to challenge the decision.

We don't know when the Czech Supreme Administrative Court will decide on that appeal.

Ahn said the Czech government didn't think EDF's claims were a big problem and asked them to come to the planned signing ceremony. He added that the Czech government's decision didn't seem to agree with the court's ruling.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Wednesday that his government accepts the court's decision. He then added, "I think the judges and the court know how important this decision is and how it will affect the safety and interests of the Czech Republic."

Lee Ju-Ho, the acting president of South Korea, said that his country would work closely with the Czech Republic to finish the agreement quickly.

In July, CEZ chose KHNP instead of EDF to build two large nuclear power plants at Dukovany. Last week, EDF went to court because the Czech competition office did not accept their complaint about how the companies bid for the project.

Before he was removed last month due to a failed martial law plan in December, former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had promised to increase the country's nuclear power exports. He argued that exports had decreased because the previous government tried to reduce the country's use of nuclear energy. Yoon's government planned to export 10 nuclear power reactors by 2030.