Ministry of Industry Releases Document on North Korea Nuclear Plant Construction Controversy: "Reviewed as an Idea and Subsequently Closed" (Comprehensive)

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy disclosed materials related to the 'North Korean Nuclear Power Plant Construction Document' on the 1st. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] As suspicions that the Moon Jae-in administration tried to build nuclear power plants for North Korea continue to spread, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy disclosed the original document of the controversial "Plan for Promoting Nuclear Power Plant Construction in North Korea Region v1.1" on the 1st, following a statement issued on the 31st of last month.

On that day, the Ministry stated, "This document was reviewed as an idea in preparation for the potential activation of inter-Korean economic cooperation after the first inter-Korean summit on April 27, 2018," and added, "It was concluded without further review or external disclosure." This reiterates the position emphasized by Shin Hee-dong, spokesperson for the Ministry, in a statement the previous day, saying, "The government never pursued this policy, and the claim that nuclear power plant construction in North Korea was secretly promoted is not true."

The Ministry explained the reason for disclosing the document, saying, "We regret the unnecessary controversy caused by this material," and requested, "We are releasing the original document in hopes that the controversy will come to an end and ask for your cooperation."

According to an indictment disclosed by some media outlets earlier, prosecutors found that three Ministry officials deleted 530 files from their work computers on December 1, 2019, the day before the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit. Among the deleted files were materials related to North Korean nuclear power plant construction. Prosecutors identified folders named "pohjois," the Finnish word for "north," and "Bukwonchu," an abbreviation likely meaning "North Korean nuclear power plant promotion," which contained files on phased cooperation tasks for building North Korea's power infrastructure, the current status of North Korea's power industry, and German integration cases.

The document disclosed by the Ministry is a six-page report titled "Plan for Promoting Nuclear Power Plant Construction in North Korea Region v1.1." At the beginning of the document, it clearly states, "This is an internal review document on possible alternatives if nuclear power plant construction is pursued in the North Korean region in the future, and it does not represent the government's official position."

The report proposed three scenarios for promoting nuclear power plant construction. The first plan involves building two nuclear reactors and a spent nuclear fuel storage facility at the Kumho site in South Hamgyong Province, the former site of the Korea Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), and gradually establishing a radioactive waste disposal facility. The second plan is to build nuclear power plants in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), and the third plan involves constructing the canceled Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 and transmitting power to North Korea.

At the end of the report, it states, "Due to the high uncertainty depending on the content and level of denuclearization measures between North Korea and the U.S., there are limitations in deriving specific promotion plans at this point," and adds, "Further review of the promotion system and detailed promotion plans will be necessary when denuclearization measures are concretized and nuclear power plant construction becomes visible."

When disclosing the document, the Ministry explained, "After reviewing the list of 530 deleted files, 174 were created during the previous administration, and 272 were created during the current administration." It also noted that 21 files were difficult to classify by creation time, and 63 were non-document files such as jpgs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.