While international mediators warn political stalemate risks more bloodshed and the interim government says diplomacy is over, Egypt’s top diplomat in South Korea defended the military’s decision to oust Mohammed Morsi as president describing it as a necessary move to prevent “civil war.”

“The polarization in the country before June 30 was such that Egypt was really in danger of civil war. People were so pitted against each other that it could have been a civil war. So, the army had to intervene,” said Egyptian Ambassador to South Korea Mohamed El Zorkany in an exclusive interview with The Korea Herald at his office on Tuesday.

In his first public comments on the political crisis facing his country, the Egyptian ambassador to South Korea said that had the army not deposed President Mohammed Morsi, “Egypt would have crumbled and disintegrated.”

The South Korean government declined to comment on Egyptian unrest, and resisted saying anything meaningful about the ousting of Morsi by the Egyptian army.

Jung Byung-ha, director of Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Middle East Division, who visited Egypt in April when massive demonstrations of millions of people had paralyzed the country, stuck to a written government statement: “We hope that the relevant parties exercise restraint and work together to find a resolution through dialogue. The future of Egypt should be determined by the people through an inclusive process.”

Amid all the political instability, however, South Korea is engaged in discussions with Egyptian officials on the North African country’s start-stop efforts to build four nuclear power plants at El Dabaa, including a 1,200-megawatt facility currently under construction.

Khalil Yasso, head of an Egyptian delegation attending a nuclear power capacity-building program organized by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, signed an MOU on training nuclear engineers and other issues with the South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick in May. A vice minister of trade visited Egypt at around the same time, according to Al Zorkany. A joint South Korean-Egyptian trade commission also convened in Cairo to discuss nuclear cooperation.

Those discussions appear to be going forward, even as Egyptian tensions boil over. Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence since Morsi was toppled, including 80 shot dead by security forces in a single incident on July 27.

A diplomatic push led by the envoys from the U.S., the EU, Qatar and the UAE has so far helped to hold off further bloodshed between grassroots Morsi activists and the security forces, but they have as yet failed to achieve a breakthrough.

Thousands of Morsi supporters remain camped out in two areas of Cairo, demanding the deposed president be re-instated: one in front of the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in the suburb of Nasr City and another in Nahda Square, near the campus of Cairo University in Giza.

The political instability caused problems for Egypt’s nuclear ambitions. Residents of the area demand the termination of the plan and, in January 2012 during weeks of protests, radioactive material was stolen from the El Dabaa site. The material remains missing.

Al Zorkany said he met with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se to brief him on the current situation in Egypt in early August. Yun hosted foreign envoys from Islamic countries at his residence for an Iftar meal on Aug. 2. Iftar is an evening meal taken by Muslims to break the fast observed during daylight hours throughout the holy month of Ramadan, which ended on Aug. 7.

He said that this was a precarious moment for his country and the situation could deteriorate even further, “depending on how the two factions react and how the two factions understand that negating the other party is impossible.”

“The most important thing in Egypt is national reconciliation. It is very difficult to reconcile between both parties but it is important because, without a consensus and without compromise, I think there will be no peace in Egypt,” he said.

Al Zorkany said the military has ruled out re-instating Morsi as president, and releasing any former government officials facing prosecution is out of the question, a prospect explored by mediators.

“Nobody can release anybody. If they release members of the Muslim Brotherhood, if there is a deal to release this person or that person, then there is no rule of law in the country.”

A career diplomat with more than 30 years as a Foreign Service officer, Al Zorkany is winding up a four-year posting here, and said he plans to retire upon departing from South Korea later this month.

Dr. Hani Selim will arrive in September to replace Al Zorkany as the Egyptian ambassador to South Korea.

Al Zorkany, 60, has represented his country here since 2009 and through two governments and two interim governments. Upon retirement in Egypt, he said he planned to enjoy his hobbies of jogging, cycling and swimming and to write commentaries for Egyptian newspapers and periodicals.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)