South Korea in talks to invest in nuclear power project in US
By Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL, March 9 (Reuters) - South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Monday that Seoul is in talks to invest in a nuclear power project in the United States as part of Seoul's pledge to invest a total of $350 billion in U.S. projects.
Seoul has been scrambling to review deals with Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on goods imported from South Korea to 25%, blaming a delay in the Asian ally's implementation of a trade deal agreed last year.
"We are in serious discussions regarding nuclear power," Kim said in a parliamentary session, in response to a lawmaker's question about Korea's possible investments in U.S. nuclear power plants.
The minister did not elaborate on details of the talks.
The U.S. government last year inked a partnership with Westinghouse that aims to build at least $80 billion in nuclear reactors, in one of the most ambitious plans in U.S. atomic energy in decades.
Japan and the United States are also working to include a nuclear power project in the second round of deals under Japan's $550-billion investment package, sources told Reuters last week.
