"Electricity Price Increase Due to Nuclear Phase-Out"…Hanbyeon Files Compensation Lawsuit Against President on Behalf of 1,000 Citizens

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The conservative-leaning lawyer group, Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea (Hanbyeon), is filing a damages lawsuit claiming that the government's nuclear phase-out policy caused an increase in electricity rates, resulting in damages.

According to the legal community on the 9th, Hanbyeon will submit a complaint to the Seoul Central District Court on the same day, representing about 1,000 citizens, seeking damages from President Moon Jae-in.

Hanbyeon pointed out, "The illegal nuclear phase-out policy caused massive deficits to Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, which used to generate trillions of won in annual operating profits. KEPCO, unable to bear the financial burden caused by the rise in power generation costs, ultimately passed it on to the final electricity consumers, the public," adding, "The occurrence of damages in the form of electricity rate increases is the result of President Moon Jae-in's intentional or gross negligence."

They continued, "The loss due to the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1 amounts to 565.2 billion won, and this damage was entirely passed on to the public," arguing, "Increasing electricity rates, which restricts the use of electricity as an essential good, constitutes a violation of constitutional fundamental rights."

Earlier, KEPCO raised the standard fuel cost twice this year by a total of 9.8 won per kilowatt-hour (kWh), and from April this year, the climate environment charge, reflecting environmental policy costs, was also increased by 2 won per kWh. Accordingly, a household of four people (with an average monthly usage of 304 kWh) will see an increase in electricity charges of about 1,950 won per month (due to the increase in standard fuel cost and climate environment charge).

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