Newly arrived envoy interested in forging nuclear partnership with Korea


Belarus surprised those fighting against nuclear power last week when it announced that two reactors would be built by the turn of the decade.

The $9 billion deal came as somewhat of a shock after an earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima plant in Japan in March. Since then, Germany has placed a moratorium on plans to restart atomic power projects.

Closer to home, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in neighboring Ukraine hit the region in 1986.

According to official post-Soviet data, about 60 percent of the fallout landed in Belarus. Since the catastrophe, Belarus has spent $32 billion to overcome the consequences and is set to spend more in the future. But the country believes nuclear is a good option for energy.

“These reactors will give us 25 percent of what we need by the time they are completed,” newly arrived Belarusian Ambassador-Designate Natallia I. Zhylevich told The Korea Herald.

Welcoming bids for future

Zhylevich added that she welcomes Korean partners interested in placing bids for the construction of the next wave of nuclear projects to be built after 2020.

“Twenty-five percent is good but it’s not enough, plus we are right in the center of Europe, all the countries around us need electricity,” she said.

Getting the acceptance from Belarusians for the construction of these plants was a huge task for the Belarusian government.

“Today, people understand that without nuclear power plants we will not be able to develop. We are a developing economy and we need energy and we don’t need pollution or gas or oil, we need something that is cleaner,” she said.

Belarus is obliged to reduce its greenhouse gases by the same level as the European Union according to the Kyoto Protocol.

EU vs. Belarus

Also last week, the European Union extended its sanctions against Belarus for human rights violations such the imprisonment of dissidents and election irregularities.

“We are neighbors and we are going to live together as neighbors,” she said in response to the news. “Coercion does not contribute to understanding. We shall survive together with the EU.”

“It is their word against the will of the Belarusian people who elected the president and he is the leader who is very popular.”

President Alexander Lukashenko has been elected for four terms, despite repeated claims by international monitors of unfair electoral practices.

“We have several complaints which people addressed to the U.N. Human Rights Committee,” Zhylevich said.

“We perceive it as a proof that our people are becoming better educated and have a better understanding of their rights. It is a positive sign for us in the point of view of our human resources. The more people are educated the better for the nation as a whole.”

Science is future for ties with Korea

On a bilateral front with Korea, Zhylevich is set to improve the pragmatic relationship that started 20 years ago with the fall of the Iron Curtain.

“I would like to renew our very good and pragmatic economic and business relations between the two countries. Unfortunately, due to the economic crisis, they have slowed down somewhat. We have to push them forward,” she said with optimism.

To achieve her goal, she plans on increasing the frequency of people-to-people contact on both sides.

“We have the basis established so we must go further,” she said.

Research and development is a promising sector for joint ventures.

The ties between the Academy of Sciences in Belarus and the research and development centers in Korea have been developing for 20 years.

Just this summer, the embassy organized the annual meeting for the science sectors of both countries which “was very successful.”

Tourism gets a slap shot

The tourism sector got a big boost also last week when the Tourism Ministries of both countries signed a memorandum of understanding to promote tourism and sports.

High on the cards is the 2014 World Hockey Championship, which will be in Belarus. While the position of the teams competing in the championship has not been decided, early indications suggest the Korean national team will most likely compete in Division I. North Korea competes in the Division III category.

“We are looking forward to host the (South) Korean fans,” Zhylevich said. “For that purpose, we would like to make the visa procedure easier for them.”

Education is also an integral part of the relationship. As proof, one does not have to go any further than the Belarusian Embassy who has one diplomat who studied in Korea before joining the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

“Our students come here to study the Korean language. Also, we have very good relations between the two capitals, Minsk and Seoul, and within this cooperation, people from Belarus come here to study public administration, public management and economic management.”

Zhylevich added that Belarusian institutes of higher education are witnessing a growing interest from Korean students looking to further their education in mathematics, nuclear physics, chemistry, petrochemistry and computer sciences, all traditionally strong areas for those schools.

By Yoav Cerralbo (yoav@heraldcorp.com)