Seoul reportedly plans to pool resources with ten countries that have advanced levels of nuclear technology to develop a "fourth-generation nuclear energy system" from next year.

The Ministry of Science and Technology said Tuesday that a policy group meeting of the "fourth-generation nuclear system international forum (GIF)" was held in Jeju Island last week. The ministry said that participants of the three-day forum drew up a draft for an agreement on mutual cooperation in the atomic energy development system and outlined future plans.

The participants are scheduled to officially sign the cooperation agreement when they reconvene in Washington in November.

The project to develop a fourth-generation atomic reactor has been jointly sought by South Korea, the U.S., France, Japan, and the EU in order to prepare for possible energy shortages in the future.