"Genetic Development Should Be Science, Not Politics"
Choo Mi-ae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, held a forum on the East Sea gas field development promoted by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and harshly criticized the project for its poor content.
Chu Mi-ae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at an emergency forum on the promotion of deep-sea oil and gas field exploration and development in the East Sea held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
On the 14th, Representative Choo held an "Emergency Forum on the Promotion of Deep-Sea Oil and Gas Field Exploration and Development in the East Sea" at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul. As a member of the Steering Committee, Representative Choo is interpreted to have held the forum to pressure the Presidential Office regarding the East Sea gas field development. At the forum, Professor Shin Chang-soo from Seoul National University's Department of Energy Resources Engineering and Professor Choi Kyung-sik from Seoul National University's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences presented, while former CEO Jang Hyuk-jun of OilQuest, a company specializing in overseas resource exploration and production, Lee Jin-dong, CEO of Newsbus, and reporter Joo Ha-eun from SisaIN participated as discussants.
In his opening remarks, Representative Choo said, "It would be a matter of celebration for the entire nation if we rise from a resource-poor country to a strong one and realize the long-held dream of being an oil-producing country," but added, "The approval of the East Sea gas field development plan, which President Yoon directly briefed for the first time, is extremely poor in form, procedure, and content. It is a black comedy showing Yoon Seok-yeol-style governance."
He also stated, "Although it is said that the reliability was verified by an advisory group composed of domestic and international experts, the minutes of the advisory group meetings are not disclosed. Korea National Oil Corporation ignored requests to submit analysis data, including the results of the service conducted by Woodside and the exploration methods and results," adding, "Oil field development should be based on science, not politics, and national projects should be promoted based on technology, not superstition."
Democratic Party lawmaker Park Jung-hyun, in a congratulatory speech, said, "President Yoon made a surprise announcement that oil was discovered in Yeongil Bay, which reminded me of former President Lee Myung-bak's resource diplomacy," and added, "There was concern that the era of swindlers was coming, but the public became wise and the approval rating did not rise." He continued, "From another perspective, in an era where the climate crisis is important, it is questionable whether spending thousands of billions of won on fossil fuel development is appropriate for this era," emphasizing, "Just as coal power plants were not stopped because coal ran out, we need to move toward a renewable energy era, but the Yoon administration is going backward, which is regrettable."
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