Gov't advises KEPCO, KHNP to resolve legal dispute over UAE plant project at home

The government on Friday advised the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) to settle their legal dispute over payments involving a United Arab Emirates (UAE) power plant project domestically. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources advised the two state-run companies to transfer the case, currently pending at the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), to the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. It cited benefits in the cost and litigation period, as well as risks of South Korea's nuclear power plant technologies potentially being leaked overseas. The ministry also urged the companies to form a consultative body to hold negotiations for a resolution. KEPCO and KHNP have been undergoing a dispute for months over the payment of additional construction costs for their joint Barakah nuclear power plant project, under which they completed the construction of four nuclear reactors in the UAE. The 20 trillion-won ($13.95 billion) project marked Korea's first-ever overseas nuclear power project. Last year, KHNP filed an arbitration claim