"Protecting Anti-Nuclear Power Forces"... Civic Groups File Criminal Complaint Against Minister of Industry Lee Chang-yang

Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant, Yangnam-myeon, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongbuk [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Civic groups opposing the 'nuclear phase-out policy' have filed a complaint with the prosecution against Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang, accusing him of "protecting the nuclear phase-out faction, including Jeong Jae-hoon, President of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP)."

At 10 a.m. on the 22nd, civic groups including Energy Heungsadan submitted a complaint against Minister Lee to the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office by mail, on charges of abuse of authority and neglect of duty.

Kang Chang-ho, head of Energy Heungsadan (and chairman of the labor union at KHNP's Saewool Nuclear Power Headquarters Saewool Unit 1 Power Plant), claimed, "Minister Lee protected President Jeong, who was a frontman for the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy, and appointed a new KHNP president candidate (Professor Hwang Ju-ho of Kyung Hee University's Department of Nuclear Engineering) who has a history of supporting nuclear phase-out activities."

He added, "This is an act that directly betrays President Yoon Suk-yeol's national agenda," and stated, "The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which should lead the cancellation of the nuclear phase-out policy to restore the nuclear industry ecosystem, the profitability of the national industry, and protect the public, has attempted to extend the nuclear phase-out policy, making this complaint inevitable."

The main point of the complaint is that Minister Lee, without complying with the executive recommendation operation regulations, designated and notified Professor Hwang as the new KHNP president candidate through an official document on the 18th, and that he has not actively proposed or requested President Yoon to dismiss President Jeong. Professor Hwang is scheduled to assume office as the new president on the 22nd.

Previously, in May, these civic groups opposing the 'nuclear phase-out policy' had filed a complaint with the prosecution against former President Moon Jae-in on charges of unfairly ordering the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1.

According to the complaint in this case, in April 2018, when the Presidential Secretariat's Science and Technology Advisory Office uploaded a report to the Blue House internal reporting system stating that "rebar is exposed on the outer wall of Wolseong Unit 1, so maintenance will be extended," former President Moon commented, "When do you plan to decide on the permanent shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1?"

Starting with this comment, former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu, former Blue House Industrial Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong, President Jeong, and others unjustly intervened in the process of manipulating the 'economic feasibility evaluation' of Wolseong Unit 1, which led to the early shutdown as a result, according to the complaint.