Yoon Orders Ministry of Industry to 'Restore Nuclear Power Ecosystem'... "Establish Growth-Oriented Strategy" (Update)

President Yoon receives a solo report from Minister Lee, emphasizing the Ministry of Industry's role in exports of nuclear power, defense, and infrastructure

On the morning of the 12th, President Yoon Suk-yeol received a briefing from Minister Lee Chang-yang of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy at the Yongsan Presidential Office Building in Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] On the 12th, President Yoon Seok-yeol instructed Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang to restore the nuclear power ecosystem and to achieve results in defense and infrastructure exports. This followed Minister Lee’s report on goals such as expanding the share of nuclear power and reestablishing the energy system during the first government briefing session, where President Yoon emphasized the need to firmly establish a growth-oriented strategy based on this.

On the 12th, President Yoon received a policy direction briefing from Minister Lee at the Yongsan Presidential Office building and conveyed these additional instructions. The briefing, which lasted about 1 hour and 40 minutes starting at 10 a.m., was attended by Chief Secretary Kim Dae-gi and Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok, while Minister Lee attended alone without other officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

After hearing Minister Lee’s report that "the environmental impact assessment for Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 will be immediately initiated to promote construction in 2024," President Yoon ordered to "quickly restore the nuclear power ecosystem and supply work orders early." The ministry announced plans to expand nuclear power work orders to 130 billion won this year and increase them to over 1 trillion won by 2025.

Regarding nuclear power, defense, and infrastructure exports discussed during diplomatic processes at the recent North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, President Yoon emphasized the ministry’s role. His directive was, "I hope the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will take the lead to produce early results," and Minister Lee stated that starting this month, the Nuclear Export Strategy Promotion Team will be fully activated with the goal of exporting 10 nuclear reactors by 2030, focusing efforts on securing nuclear power contracts in the Czech Republic and Poland. Additionally, President Yoon stressed firmly establishing a growth-oriented strategy through regulatory reform, R&D support, and fostering advanced talent.

Meanwhile, the ministry reported plans to activate private investment by raising cash support for national strategic technologies for foreign-invested companies to the maximum limit (50%) and increasing the ratio of 'negative zones'?industrial complexes where all manufacturing industries can settle?from the existing 30% to 50%. In particular, the ministry unveiled plans to prepare a roadmap for talent development by the first half of 2023 to train 140,000 specialized workers by industry. To this end, more than 10 specialized universities (graduate schools) for advanced industries will be designated.

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