According to Yonhap News,
(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korea and Argentina agreed to strengthen cooperation in the energy sector as they resumed committee-level talks for the first time in nine years, the trade ministry said Sunday.
Joo Hyung-hwan, minister of trade, industry and energy, held a bilateral meeting of the committee on energy resources cooperation with Argentina in Buenos Aires and agreed to work together on nuclear reactors, renewable energy, energy efficiency, minerals and liquefied natural gas (LNG), the ministry said.
The committee had last met in 2008.
Argentina is said to be a resources-rich nation, having the world's third-largest deposits of lithium and second-largest reserve of shale gas. Some 75 percent of such resources are yet to be developed.
Joo asked that South Korean companies be allowed to participate in the construction of nuclear power plants in Argentina, according to the ministry. The two sides discussed the potential for combining South Korea's technology with Argentina's resources, notably South Korean steelmaker POSCO's lithium plant project, it said.
POSCO had advanced to the South American country in 2014 to obtain lithium phosphate but stopped the operation.
In the LNG sector, the two countries agreed to find specific ways for development and supply, according to the ministry.
The committee will meet annually from next year and pursue memorandums of understanding in lithium and LNG business.
South Korean Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan (L) meets with his Argentinian counterpart Juan Jose Aranguren in Buenos Aires on March 3, 2017. (Photo provided by South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) (Yonhap) South Korean Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan (L) meets with his Argentinian counterpart Juan Jose Aranguren in Buenos Aires on March 3, 2017. (Photo provided by South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) (Yonhap)
Copyrights Yonhap News. All Rights Reserved.
Reprint or redistribution without permission is prohibited.
Source: Yonhap News (Mar. 5, 2017)