Yang Yi-won-young, a former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and former anti-nuclear activist, applied to become a new nonexecutive director at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) but withdrew her application on her own.
According to Yonhap News on the 11th, the former lawmaker Yang applied for KHNP's new nonexecutive director post but conveyed her intention to withdraw verbally at the end of last month. At the same time, she also applied for the standing auditor position at KEPCO Engineering & Construction Company (KEPCO E&C), and she was said to have made this decision to focus on one position.
KHNP's executive Nominating Committee issued a call on Apr. 13 to select two nonexecutive directors and began the process. The committee selected a pool of 10 candidates, five times the number of positions, and notified the Public Institution Management Committee of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. During this process, it became known that the former lawmaker Yang was included in the pool, sparking controversy.
The nuclear power industry has strongly objected, saying it is inappropriate for a figure who led the nuclear phaseout policy to apply for a KHNP board seat. The KHNP labor union expressed concern over the possibility of appointing the former lawmaker Yang and even warned Minister Kim Seong-hwan of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment of legal action.
Criticism also continued in political circles. Park Chung-kwon of the People Power Party held a press conference on the 9th and said, "Allowing a figure who has devoted a lifetime to eliminating nuclear power to enter as a nonexecutive director directly conflicts with the duty of loyalty under the Commercial Act."
Kim So-hee of the same party also said, "Seating a figure who has thoroughly denied science and industry on KHNP's board, which must strengthen the global competitiveness of the nuclear industry, goes beyond self-contradiction and is an insult and provocation to Korea's nuclear industry."
There remains a chance that the former lawmaker Yang will enter the nuclear power industry. She has also applied for the standing auditor post at KEPCO E&C, a nuclear power public corporation. KEPCO E&C is the only nuclear power design institution in Korea.