Minister Kim Sung-hwan of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, which launched on the 1st, emphasized "climate" and "decarbonization" in his inaugural address, making clear that responding to the climate crisis and the energy transition are the organization's goals. The climate ministry took over the domestic nuclear power policy from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, but there was no mention of nuclear power. This stands in stark contrast to the United States, which is emphasizing nuclear power to maintain energy hegemony and has designated terms such as "climate change" and "decarbonization" as banned words.
At the launch ceremony held at the Sejong Government Complex that morning, Minister Kim pledged: ▲ present a roadmap for a decarbonization transition as the control tower for responding to the climate crisis ▲ pursue an effective decarbonization strategy ▲ carry out a major shift to an energy system centered on renewable energy ▲ foster a carbon-neutral industry as a new national growth engine.
In his inaugural address, Minister Kim used the word "climate" the most, 22 times, followed by decarbonization (11 times). He said, "The launch of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment is the first step toward ending the carbon civilization that relies on fossil fuels amid an urgent reality and making a major transition to a decarbonized green civilization centered on renewable energy."
Decarbonization means reducing dependence on fossil fuels and reducing or removing emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide to bring net emissions effectively to "0." Minister Kim also frequently used words such as renewable energy (7 times), sustainable (5 times), green (5 times), and great transition (5 times).
Minister Kim's remarks are the exact opposite of recent U.S. moves. U.S. President Donald Trump, in his keynote address at the high-level session of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, used harsh expressions such as "the greatest fraud perpetrated on the world" and "green scam" to describe the U.N.-led global response to climate change and carbon-reduction policies, and argued that "the 'carbon footprint' is a scam concocted by people with malicious intent."
The U.S. political outlet Politico recently obtained and reported on a document titled a "banned words list" from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE·United States Department of Energy).
Among the expressions that Trump administration officials are not to use are "energy transition," "sustainable," "sustainability," "clean energy," "dirty energy," "carbon footprint," and "carbon dioxide (CO₂) footprint." The guidance is used for internal and external communications and applies to federal funding applications, reports, and briefings.
At a CEO breakfast meeting held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry that day, Minister Kim, responding to concerns that electricity rates could rise due to the expansion of renewable energy, said, "Globally, the cheapest generation sources are wind and solar, with the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) down to the 50–60 won range," and added, "Korea is more expensive than this, but the task is to ensure electricity rates do not go up even as renewable energy increases."
Although Minister Kim said wind and solar are the cheapest generation sources, in August the settlement unit prices (purchase prices) by generation source showed wind and solar at 116.3 won and 123.8 won per kWh, 44–53% more expensive than nuclear power (80.7 won).
An energy industry official said, "Renewable energy has high volatility in output depending on the weather and is expensive. If you use a lot of renewable energy, the cost price rises, so saying electricity rates will not be raised means expanding the deficit of the Korea Electric Power Corporation."