Kim Kyeong-soo, a preliminary candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea presidential primary, said on the 17th, "I do not believe that nuclear power is the only energy measure needed in the artificial intelligence (AI) transition process."
Candidate Kim noted after a meeting with Katrin Sternfeld Jamme, the mayor of Malmö, Sweden, at the Ilsan Seogu District Office in Goyang that "there is a need to adjust the pace of nuclear power reduction. (However), we need to gradually decrease it while significantly increasing renewable energy."
He said, "Including AI, a lot of energy is needed in the digital transition process. The issue is whether to use nuclear power because it consumes a lot of energy."
He added, "Corporations are building AI infrastructure data centers globally," and stated, "While data centers are established in Europe and other regions where they can easily and freely obtain environmentally friendly energy, that is not the case in our country." A significant amount of electricity is required to establish data centers.
Candidate Kim said, "How to harmonize renewable energy with nuclear power, including existing energy, to meet the energy demand necessary for the AI transition is one of the challenges we need to tackle together," and noted, "We are fundamentally a country where nuclear power accounts for a large proportion, so adjusting the pace alone is sufficient."
Regarding the government's 11th basic plan for electricity supply and demand (Electricity Plan), finalized last February, he stated, "It is a plan designed without considering the AI transition and following the conventional method."
The 11th Electricity Plan includes construction plans for two large nuclear reactors and one small modular reactor (SMR). The Democratic Party opposed the plan, reducing the number of new nuclear reactors from four to three. Instead, the generation capacity of renewable energy was increased.
Candidate Kim said, "The (power supply and demand plan) must be comprehensively reviewed for the transition to renewable energy and the transformation of the system called the energy grid to reach a conclusion."
This is interpreted as emphasizing differentiation from Lee Jae-myung, a preliminary candidate from the Democratic Party, who is distancing himself from the recent anti-nuclear power stance.
When asked about the differences with candidate Lee, he replied, "If I become president, I will clearly communicate this part during the TV debate."
The TV debate among Democratic Party presidential candidates is scheduled to be broadcast live from 8:30 p.m. for 80 minutes on the 18th.