Minister Kim Sung-hwan of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said on the 30th, "The Moon Jae-in administration tried to push for a major energy transition over its five years, but it ended its term without phasing out coal as it became entangled in the nuclear phaseout debate."
At the "1st policy debate on a desirable energy mix" held at the National Assembly that day, the Minister expressed regret as he mentioned the energy policies of the Moon Jae-in administration and the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
He noted, "The three years of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration went in the exact opposite direction by focusing only on nuclear power while failing to promote renewables," adding, "As a result, Korea has become the worst among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in renewable energy, and the gap is very large."
The Minister said, "Currently, Korea's energy mix is roughly 30% nuclear, 30% coal, 30% gas, and 10% renewables," adding, "How we solve and advance this issue will form the very foundation of Korea's economic development going forward."
He went on to say, "We need a plan to retire coal-fired power plants and to determine how to expand renewables," adding, "It is not easy to find solutions for how to reduce coal, which most affects the climate crisis, while maintaining a stable power supply."
He also emphasized, "There is a general consensus on the broad direction that renewables and nuclear power should be appropriately combined, but the issue is how to set their shares," adding, "We need a more in-depth discussion on this."
The Minister said, "It is true that nuclear power has served as Korea's main baseload power source," but added, "It is also undeniable that, in the event of an accident, it is a very dangerous energy source." He also said, "Ultimately, we must move toward an energy system that does not emit carbon and does not affect the climate," adding, "This is no longer a task we can avoid."
The Minister added, "President Lee Jae-myung has repeatedly emphasized that we should work together to solve the problem based on scientific facts, not ideology," adding, "I hope the two debates will serve as an opportunity to advance this discussion more objectively and scientifically."