Korea exports nuclear reactor technology to Europe for first time

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and visiting Dutch King Willem-Alexander held summit talks on Monday at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and signed a deal to upgrade a Dutch nuclear reactor, to mark Korea`s first export of its nuclear reactor technology to Europe.

Under the 19-million-euro (23.74 million U.S. dollars) deal, the project will be carried out by a consortium led by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Hyundai Engineering and Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which will build a cold neutron research facility at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands by 2018.

On the sidelines, the Korea Institute of Brain Science and the Netherlands Brain Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration in brain research. The two institutions will share degenerative brain disease tissues and promote talent exchange to foster expertise. Both countries also promised to expand cooperation in the energy and agricultural sectors.

It is the first time that the Dutch king has visited Korea since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1961. President Park officially visited the Netherlands in March this year and King Alexander came to Korea as a return visit.

The summit was also attended by Guus Hiddink, former coach of Korean national football team who led the team to the semi-finals at the World Cup Korea-Japan in 2002. He accompanied the king as special economic envoy. When President Park visited the Netherlands in March, King Alexander had invited to luncheon Hiddink and Park Ji-sung who had played an active part in PSV Eindhoven.

Meanwhile, President Park is pursuing a summit meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the multilateral meetings that will take place in either Myanmar or Australia next week. At the APEC summit meeting to be held in Beijing next Monday, President Park is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. She will be meeting heads of both the U.S. and China to discuss North Korea and economic cooperation issues. At the APEC meeting, Obama and Xi will also have a summit.