Handonghun "Democratic Party's Nuclear Phase-out Policy Completely Wrong... Our Government Was Right"

"AI Revolution Era, Renewable Energy Alone Is Not Enough"
Virtual Asset Taxation Deferred for 2 Years... "Do Not Oppose"

Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, argued that the anti-nuclear power policies of the Democratic Party of Korea and the Moon Jae-in administration were wrong, and that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's policy to revitalize the nuclear power industry was correct. This is because the demand for electricity has increased in the era of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, making nuclear power more necessary.

Handonghun, leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

On the 14th, at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, Han said, "The key in the AI revolution era is electricity. This is because an enormous amount of electricity is required." He added, "Relying mainly on renewable energy cannot meet the electricity demand needed for the AI industry due to its high volatility," and emphasized, "The world is now moving away from the RE100 illusion that Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, liked so much."

RE100 is the concept that companies use 100% renewable energy for all their energy consumption. During the last presidential debate, candidate Lee asked President Yoon about RE100, which became a topic of discussion.

Han explained the importance of revitalizing nuclear power by citing overseas examples. He said, "In the United States, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, which was shut down due to an accident, is being reopened for Microsoft's data center," adding, "This is the attitude of advanced countries toward the AI revolution."

Furthermore, Han said, "Countries like Germany and Taiwan, which have pursued anti-nuclear power policies, are struggling with serious electricity problems and are stuck at the threshold of the AI revolution," and added, "If we had not abandoned the anti-nuclear power policy, we would have been in the same situation." He continued, "It seems the Democratic Party is also joining this view. Last year, they cut the entire nuclear power budget, but this year they accepted the nuclear power budget," and said, "The Democratic Party also could not have argued for anti-nuclear power while saying AI is important."

Regarding the Democratic Party's stance of rejecting the 'two-year deferral of virtual asset taxation,' Han criticized, "I think they just oppose whatever the government and ruling party do out of inertia." He added, "The policy to defer virtual asset taxation is meant to ease the burden of asset formation for young people and to consider the lack of preparation for various difficult situations," and said, "While calling for the abolition of the financial investment income tax, they suddenly oppose a two-year deferral of virtual asset taxation. For economic issues like this, let's think only about the economy, the people, investors, and the youth."