"Wolseong Unit 1 Shutdown, a National Deception Show"... People Power Party Criticizes Government's 'Nuclear Phase-Out' (Summary)

Environmental activists from the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements are performing a demonstration urging opposition to the additional construction of the temporary storage facility for nuclear waste at the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The People Power Party criticized the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1 as a "public deception show based on a fabricated scenario from start to finish," calling the recent Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) audit results "a practical death sentence for the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy."

On the 20th, Lee Jong-bae, the Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, stated in a press release, "The recklessness of shutting down the world's top-level nuclear power plant just because of being moved by a movie has divided South Korea and left only astronomical losses to the people," criticizing President Moon.

On the same day, the BAI announced audit results indicating that the economic feasibility of Wolseong Unit 1 was unreasonably undervalued. However, it did not make a judgment on the validity of the shutdown itself.

He pointed out, "The Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy threw the conclusion of 'early nuclear power plant shutdown' to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), and KHNP forcibly squeezed out all sorts of puzzles to comply with the Ministry's directive. When the National Assembly pursued the truth, Ministry officials deleted official documents," adding, "Meanwhile, KHNP bore a loss of 565.2 billion won due to the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1, and the government even prepared measures to amend the Enforcement Decree of the Electricity Business Act to cover this loss with taxpayers' money."

The Policy Committee Chair added, "This is truly a meticulously crafted public deception show scenario," and "Of course, all citizens know that President Moon is behind the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy."

He also demanded punishment for those responsible. He said, "The BAI effectively gave a slap-on-the-wrist pardon to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, the KHNP president, and Ministry officials," and "The National Assembly will use all means granted by the people to thoroughly uncover the truth behind the suspicions."

Yoon Hee-seok, spokesperson for the People Power Party, also commented orally on the same day, saying, "Ultimately, the 'nuclear phase-out' has been proven to be a delusional dream," and "The BAI's audit result that the economic feasibility of continuing Wolseong Unit 1 was undervalued is a practical death sentence for the Moon administration's nuclear phase-out policy, which was pursued without principles or evidence."

Spokesperson Yoon said, "Despite numerous misconducts to obstruct the BAI audit, including pressure on KHNP by the Ministry, the Minister's turning a blind eye, and orders to delete data, the audit results revealed the truth," adding, "They even tried to expose relatives' whereabouts and conduct a 'fabricated audit' to pressure the BAI chairman, but all efforts failed before the truth."

Yoon urged, "The BAI has done its job. Now it is the government's turn to respond," and called for, "The immediate abolition of the 'nuclear phase-out policy,' which was pushed recklessly to fulfill presidential pledges, and efforts to revive South Korea's nuclear power industry."