Seoul, July 25: 
India today signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal with South Korea, allowing a framework for Korean companies to participate in atomic power plant projects in the country.
The agreement was signed after a meeting between the President, Ms Pratibha Patil, with her South Korean counterpart Mr Lee Myung-Bak.
South Korea has become the ninth country which had signed a nuclear agreement with India after it got the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) in 2008.
The others are the US, France, Russia, Canada, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia, an official said.

South Korea operates 20 nuclear plants that generate 35 per cent of its electricity needs, and is keen to export its technology to fast developing countries like India.
“The two countries have just concluded and signed a bilateral agreement on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy,” said Mr Sanjay Singh, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs.
“It is like other civil nuclear agreements signed between India and other countries. We look forward to Republic of Korea for becoming one more partner in the development of civil nuclear energy in India,” the official said without divulging further details on the agreement and its mandate but termed the deal as a “win-win” for both the nations.
Both India and South Korea decided to start talks on civil nuclear cooperation during a meeting between the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and South Korean President Lee on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Hanoi in October last year.
Ms Patil also invited Korean companies to invest in India and explore business opportunities.
“Rashtrapatiji conveyed to President Lee that the investment environment in India is improving rapidly and invited more Korean companies to invest in India and make it their base for manufacturing operations including for export to third countries,” Mr Sanjay Singh said.
She pointed out that Indian pharmaceuticals and IT services are of high quality and requested the government of Republic of Korea (ROK) to enhance market access for these Indian products in the Korean market.
Both the Presidents agreed to encourage greater people-to-people exchanges and stressed to start more direct flights between India and South Korea.
“For this purpose, we have to amend our Civil Aviation Agreement so as to grant each other’s carriers fifth freedom rights. They agreed to do this soon,” the official said.
They also talked about India’s proposal of revival of Nalanda University besides discussing regional and national issues.
“They decided to increase cooperation and coordination in the East Asia summit process and also the issues pertaining to Asia pacific,” he said.
Ms Patil will leave for Mongolia on July 27.
The visit to both the East Asian nations is part of the country’s ‘Look East Policy’ to further mutual cooperation.