Daewoo asks Seoul to mediate after KHNP ends talks on $18.6 billion Czech nuclear build

Daewoo, which leads a consortium that includes Doosan Enerbility, said it received formal notice on Oct. 30 that KHNP had ended the talks, a day after it filed a revised offer. That offer cut the overall price and absorbed some added construction quantities, even though it could leave the consortium hundreds of billions of won in the red, The Korea Herald reported. Korea JoongAng Daily puts the whole project at roughly 25 trillion won ($18.6 billion).

The fight is over who pays for work nobody could fully define at bid time. Daewoo said its 2024 bid put construction at 8.2 trillion won, paid on actual quantities, and that it wanted a separate contract for extra work caused by design changes, while KHNP wanted that work inside a fixed final price. Daewoo argues that a builder which does not design the reactor should not carry that risk on the first APR1000 in Europe, a model with no finished reference plant, and cites FIDIC Red Book principles for employer-designed work. KHNP told the Herald it offered to cover higher quantities, fix the final price once basic design is approved and pay for most civil work by measured quantity, and that the cuts it sought targeted excessive or duplicated charges.

Seoul Economic Daily counted 78 working-level meetings and two meetings of the chief executives over 15 months, after which the two sides were still more than 1 trillion won apart. Daewoo says it has put tens of billions of won into staff and preparation since July 2025, when KHNP told it to start, and has not been reimbursed. It warned the termination could end in court but has not sued.

The ministry said it cannot mediate between companies, but on Monday it started an emergency oversight system, with the minister and his deputy chairing weekly meetings in turn. KHNP wants a new builder under contract by July 2027. The government is trying to hold three dates, the Herald reported: applying for a construction permit in April 2027, site work from January 2029 and first construction in November 2029.