The First Public Sentiment Tour Focuses on 'Nuclear Phase-Out'... Unveiling the 'Yoon Seok-yeol Style' Policy Blueprint

Meeting with Professor Joo Han-kyu Opposing Nuclear Phase-Out
Lunch with KAIST Students Tomorrow
Listening to Young Voices on Nuclear Power Jobs

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Juni Park] Yoon Seok-yeol, a leading opposition presidential candidate and former Prosecutor General, chose "nuclear phase-out" as the first topic of his self-proclaimed "public sentiment tour." By directly challenging the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy, which was promoted to expand renewable energy, he revealed the blueprint of his "Yoon Seok-yeol-style" policy.

On the afternoon of the 5th, Yoon began his public sentiment tour with a meeting at Seoul National University with Professor Joo Han-kyu of the Department of Nuclear Engineering. Professor Joo is one of the prominent scholars opposing the nuclear phase-out policy. This meeting was initiated by Yoon's side. In a phone interview with this publication, Professor Joo said, "The current government has pushed the nuclear phase-out policy for four years, causing tremendous damage," and added, "I understand that (Yoon) wants to listen to opinions on whether there are any substantial reasons behind the nuclear phase-out issue and how energy policy can be improved going forward."

On the second day of his public sentiment tour, Yoon will continue his nuclear phase-out-related activities. On the 6th, he plans to have lunch with students from the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon. This appears to be an effort to directly hear the voices of young people regarding nuclear power jobs.

At a press conference announcing his presidential candidacy on the 29th of last month, Yoon declared that the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy was a failed policy. He stated, "Four years ago, the Moon Jae-in administration was launched with the hopes and expectations of the people, but what has happened since then?" and referred to it as a "nuclear phase-out that ignored the law and caused world-class technology to be wasted." During his tenure as Prosecutor General, he once faced suspension from duty while directly leading the investigation into allegations of economic feasibility evaluation manipulation of the Wolseong Unit 1 nuclear power plant.

If Yoon places opposition to nuclear phase-out at the forefront of his policy, there is also a possibility of cooperation with the People Power Party. On the 30th of last month, the People Power Party launched the "Special Committee on Nuclear Phase-out Damage and National Land Destruction Countermeasures" to hold the Moon administration accountable for the failure of the nuclear phase-out policy and to prepare countermeasures. Lee Sang-rok, spokesperson for the Yoon Seok-yeol campaign, said, "Nuclear power is an issue directly connected to the lives of all citizens, and safety issues must also be discussed," adding, "Through this activity, we will derive solutions for specific directions."

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