In Seoul, South Korean officials on Wednesday adopted a sanguine stance towards a Czech tribunal's interlocutory injunction suspending South Korea's involvement in an $18 billion initiative to construct two nuclear reactors, characterising the development as a transient impediment and voicing firm conviction that the agreement would ultimately be consummated.

A South Korean consortium helmed by the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power had anticipated the formalisation of the agreement this week with a subsidiary of CEZ, the Czech Republic’s premier electricity purveyor; nonetheless, a Czech tribunal interdicted CEZ from executing the contract pending its adjudication of a grievance lodged by the French firm EDF, which had been unsuccessful in its tender vis-à-vis the South Koreans.

In Prague, South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Dukgeun conveyed to journalists that the judicial ruling would merely protract the formal contractual execution, affirming that all antecedent processes would unfold according to the prescribed timeline, contingent upon the transaction's ultimate consummation. He posited that the Czech government evidently had not foreseen the court's injunction to suspend the accord, and that CEZ intends to pursue an appeal.

The precise juncture at which the Czech Supreme Administrative Court might render a decision on that appeal remains indeterminate.

Ahn stated, "The Czech government did not perceive EDF's assertions as a significant impediment and extended an invitation for the previously arranged signing ceremony." He added, "It appears the Czech government's assessment was at variance with the court's determination."

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, responding on Wednesday, conveyed his administration's deference to the judicial pronouncement, appending: "I trust that the judiciary, in its entirety, apprehends the momentousness of this ruling and its ramifications for the Czech Republic's security and our sovereign concerns."

South Korea's interim leader, Lee Ju-Ho, underscored Seoul's unwavering resolve to maintain seamless dialogue with their Czech counterparts, thereby facilitating the swift conclusion of the accord.

In July, ČEZ designated KHNP, rather than EDF, as the favoured tenderer for the construction of two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors at the Dukovany facility; EDF subsequently lodged a judicial grievance last week upon the Czech Republic's competition authority's dismissal of its recourse concerning the tendering procedure.

Prior to his removal last month, precipitated by a contentious declaration of martial law in December, former conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had articulated a commitment to augmenting the nation’s nuclear power exports, contending that their trajectory had been hampered under the preceding liberal administration's domestic nuclear divestment policy. Yoon's government had stipulated a target of facilitating the export of ten nuclear reactors by the close of the decade.