Kim Sung-hwan, Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, said in a radio interview on the 24th that "if we shut down coal-fired power and transition solely to renewable energy, there is a possibility that electricity rates will rise significantly." This can be seen as a clear shift in position, given that Kim had previously maintained that expanding wind and solar power as an alternative to phasing out coal would not lead to higher electricity rates. Kim also argued, "Industrial electricity rates are already far higher than in China, so if rates rise further due to expanded renewable energy, it will not be easy to compete."
The shift in energy awareness by Kim, a former environmental activist, is late but welcome. Countries around the world are accelerating their energy mix for industrial competitiveness while maintaining carbon neutrality targets. The United States is once again fostering nuclear power as a strategic industry, and France has moved to expand new nuclear plants. The United Kingdom, Japan and Taiwan are also shifting policy toward raising the share of nuclear power. Their underlying intent is to prepare for the climate crisis without losing industrial competitiveness.
For Korea, which has announced "three mega projects," the energy mix is even more urgent. The Yongin semiconductor cluster, the Honam semiconductor project, artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, and physical AI all require securing enormous amounts of power. The four semiconductor fabs to be built in Gwangju alone will each require power reaching 1.4 gigawatts (GW), the amount produced by one large nuclear reactor. Fostering national strategic industries without building additional nuclear plants is absurd.
The same applies to carbon neutrality policy. While the 2050 carbon neutrality target cannot be dismissed as hasty, the pace of reduction and the method of implementation require flexible adjustment. In particular, if excessive reduction targets are forced on energy-intensive sectors such as steel and petrochemicals, there is a strong risk of merely increasing production cost burdens and ceding markets to overseas competitors. In the same vein, the mandatory environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure for listed companies with assets of 10 trillion won or more, which the ruling party and government are pushing, should also be reconsidered.
Responding to the climate crisis and industrial competitiveness are tasks that cannot be abandoned. Renewable energy should be expanded, but a stable power supply system that includes nuclear power must be established, and carbon neutrality must also be pursued flexibly in line with industrial conditions. We hope Kim's remarks this time will serve as an opportunity to shift energy policy overall toward "realism."
