SOUTH KOREA PERSPECTIVE

Seoul, May 17, 2026. When a drone struck the electrical generator on the outer perimeter of the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, South Korea did not respond as a distant observer. The Barakah project represents far more than a contract: it is the first commercial nuclear complex built by Korean companies abroad, executed by a consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) for a sum of 20 billion dollars.

According to Seoul's Foreign Ministry and KEPCO, none of the Korean workers on site were injured in the incident. "No casualties or damage to the Barakah plant have been reported," confirmed a KEPCO official. The UAE nuclear regulatory authority stated that "all units operate normally" and there was no impact on radiological safety—a confirmation that Korean media highlighted as a priority, emphasizing the integrity of installations designed by Korean engineers.

Commissioned in 2020, the Barakah complex comprises four reactors and can meet up to one-quarter of the UAE's energy needs, the first and only nuclear power plant on the Arabian Peninsula. It is also the first commercial nuclear plant in the Arab world. For Seoul, this contract served as proof that South Korea could compete with American, French, and Russian giants in civil nuclear energy.

The attack occurs within a particularly tense regional context. No party has claimed responsibility for the strike, but suspicions immediately point to Iran, whose tensions with the UAE have escalated after Abu Dhabi hosted Israeli air defense systems. The fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Iran conflict is threatened, with US President Donald Trump himself suggesting that hostilities could resume. Iran maintains control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which passes one-fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies.

Korean media note that this is the first time since the start of the Israel-Iran conflict that the Barakah plant has been directly targeted. They recall that nuclear power plants have become recurring targets in modern conflicts, citing attacks around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant since 2022 and repeated strikes around Iran's Bushehr facility. The long-term security of Korean infrastructure projects in high-risk zones thus emerges as an urgent strategic question for the nation's industry.