S. Korea bids for Dutch reactor project

By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan on Wednesday asked the Dutch government to support Seoul's bid to participate in an ongoing project to replace a reactor in the European nation.

Yu delivered the message to his visiting Dutch counterpart Maxime Verhagen during
a meeting between the ministers, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.
The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute formed a consortium in an effort to
take part in the project to build an 80-megawatt nuclear reactor for research
purposes in the Netherlands.
"Minister Yu expressed hope for closer ties between South Korea and the
Netherlands in the nuclear energy sector," the ministry said in a press release.
The ministers also shared the view that both South Korea and the European Union
need to show flexibility in order to strike a free trade agreement deal within
the year, it said.
South Korea and the Netherlands established diplomatic ties in 1961 and have
improved relations in various fields, including politics, education, culture and
the economy.