Opposition Raises 'Moon Responsibility' on Electricity Price Hike... "Concerns Become Reality"

President Moon Jae-in is speaking at the Cabinet meeting held on the morning of the 14th at the Yeomin-gwan video conference room in the Blue House. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] The opposition party held the Moon Jae-in administration and the ruling party responsible for the 'nuclear phase-out' policy in light of the electricity rate increase in the fourth quarter.

On the 24th, Ahn Hyejin, spokesperson for the People’s Party, stated in a commentary, "Before it is too late, the government must declare a policy shift to protect our companies' world-class nuclear technology and develop small modular reactors," adding, "Simply being able to use high-quality electricity at a low cost will improve the quality of life for the people."

Spokesperson Ahn explained, "The cumulative loss in power generation costs due to the Moon Jae-in administration’s nuclear phase-out policy is estimated to be 1,000 trillion won over the next 30 years," and added, "This analysis is a minimum loss estimate that does not even include the damage from job losses in the domestic nuclear industry or the destruction of Korea’s nuclear ecosystem, which possesses world-leading technology."

He continued, "Even though we should be dedicating ourselves to scientific and technological innovation and competing to create future growth engines, the leader, who indulged in watching a disaster movie idly, shattered the country’s future growth engines, colluded with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, deceived the public, and caused tremendous national wealth loss by undermining national competitiveness. Even if the leader is the president, they must be held accountable through claims for damages," and criticized, "The wrong judgment of a leader swayed by futile ideology or beliefs plunges the country into crisis."

On the same day, Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, also pointed out at the floor strategy meeting, "The concerns about electricity rates have become a reality," adding, "This will be a heavy burden on self-employed people and small business owners who are already struggling due to COVID-19, as well as on the industrial sector, and may lead to a chain increase in living costs."

Floor leader Kim also said, "President Moon and the Democratic Party loudly claimed there would be no additional electricity rate hikes until 2022, but it turned out to be fake news. It was a shameless lie," and stated, "No matter how they try to cover it up, the public knows very well that the electricity rate increase is the bill for the Moon administration’s wrong nuclear phase-out policy."

Kim Yeon-ju, senior deputy spokesperson for the People Power Party, also released a statement saying, "'The era of 1,000 trillion won in national debt' plus '1,000 trillion won nuclear phase-out bill' will surely become a heavy burden for future generations, and responsibility for this clearly lies with the Moon administration."