Taeyoungho: "The official who prepared the North Korea nuclear power support document was detained instead of rewarded due to the 탈원전 policy"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Tae Young-ho, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear power policy on the 4th in relation to the controversy over the document on support for North Korean nuclear power plants. He stated that the real reason the current government is facing controversy over the document on support for North Korean nuclear power plants is due to the 'nuclear phase-out policy.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, during a government question session, Rep. Tae said, "The people think that if unification happens, building a nuclear power plant in North Korea, where two households' economies will be combined, in advance to reduce the economic gap between the South and the North is a good idea. Promoting the construction of nuclear power plants in North Korea as one of the good incentives to lead North Korea to nuclear disarmament does not seem bad. I do not understand why the public officials who drafted this plan are not receiving awards but are instead being detained and investigated." He added, "One of the reasons why this is not being openly discussed is probably because domestically, the government is pursuing a nuclear phase-out policy, while externally boasting about exporting nuclear power plants to North Korea, which is a contradiction. I have this reasonable suspicion."

Rep. Tae also argued that the nuclear power policy should be completely changed considering unification and other factors. He said, "As a divided country, whether unification happens today, tomorrow, or in 30 years, we need to consider how to urgently supply electricity to North Korea, which accounts for only 4-5% of our energy production." He continued, "It is not reasonable to stop nuclear power generation just because other countries have stopped it without considering this."

In this regard, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun stated, "South Korea is not phasing out nuclear power but undergoing an energy transition," adding, "We are following the global trend, and as part of that, nuclear power should be maintained and developed." This means that the current government's policy is not a nuclear phase-out.

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