Yun Byeong-tae, Mayor of Naju, Visits National Assembly Science and ICT Committee... Proposes Current Project Requests

On the 4th, Yoon Byung-tae, Mayor of Naju City, Jeollanam-do, visited the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) to propose key pending projects in the fields of science and technology that will determine the activation of future advanced industries, the vision of the 8th local government.

According to the city on that day, Mayor Yoon met with Choi Min-hee, Chairperson of the Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Hyun, the committee secretary, to request the establishment of the ‘National Energy Specialized Science Museum,’ the construction of an ‘Artificial Sun Research Facility,’ and the inclusion of the ‘Ultra-High-Power Laser Research Facility’ in the national plan.

Naju Mayor Yoon Byung-tae requested support for science and technology projects, including the establishment of an artificial sun research facility, from Choi Min-hee, Chairperson of the National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee.
[Photo by Naju City]

Mayor Yoon explained the necessity of each pending project and requested active interest and support from the National Assembly. At this meeting, Shin Jeong-hoon, Chairperson of the Administrative Safety Committee and National Assembly member for Naju-Hwasun, also attended to lend support.

The Ministry of Science and ICT included 200 million KRW in this year’s budget for a feasibility study for the construction of the ‘National Energy Specialized Science Museum,’ which Naju City is prioritizing, and the bidding for the study is currently underway.

The city has continuously emphasized the need to establish a science museum where future energy and advanced science and technology can be directly taught and experienced, as there have been no specialized science museum facilities in the Jeollanam-do region until now.

If the construction of the science museum in the Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint (Bitgaram) Innovation City proceeds without setbacks, it is expected to become a new landmark of Naju, the energy capital, as a complex science and cultural space linked with energy public enterprises, educational institutions, and research institutes such as Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Energy Engineering University, and KEPCO Energy New Technology Institute.

The artificial sun is a clean energy source that can obtain large-scale nuclear fusion energy without carbon emissions using hydrogen from seawater as raw material. In line with the global carbon neutrality trend, major advanced countries are competing to develop this technology.

The ‘Artificial Sun Research Facility’ proposed by Mayor Yoon and prioritized as the city’s top pending project is not a power plant concept but a facility to research the artificial sun necessary for full-scale commercialization (power generation) in the future, accumulate data, and conduct verification.

The city, in cooperation with Jeollanam-do and Korea Energy Engineering University, has proactively taken the lead in establishing the artificial sun research facility, including the nationwide first project in 2022 to build a ‘Superconducting Conductor Test Facility,’ one of the eight core technologies of the artificial sun.

Mayor Yoon said, “Naju is the optimal location for the artificial sun research facility as it is promoting the development of a 1.2 million square meter Energy National Industrial Complex and a 400,000 square meter Industry-Academia-Research Energy Cluster, and has excellent industry-academia-research infrastructure such as KEPCO and Korea Energy Engineering University,” and requested active cooperation from the Committee for its attraction.

Meanwhile, in May of this year, the city established the institutional foundation for the construction of the artificial sun research facility by enacting the ‘Naju City Hydrogen Convergence Energy Research and Development and Industry Promotion Ordinance.’

Naju = Kim Yuk-bong, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr