President's Office Unable to Hide Embarrassment Over 'Daewang Whale' Failure [Yongsan Report]

Ruling Party: "Proceeding with Follow-up Drilling Operations and Securing Related Budgets"

In the early morning of December 30 last year, the West Capella was conducting exploratory drilling operations at the Daewang Whale promising structure located in the sea off Pohang City, Gyeongbuk Province. Photo by Yonhap News

The presidential office is visibly unsettled following the initial drilling results indicating that securing economic viability for the East Sea deep-sea gas field project ‘Daewanggorae,’ promoted by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, is difficult. There is a sense of disappointment over the loss of a strong card that could have reversed President Yoon’s challenging situation.

A senior official from the presidential office stated on the 7th, "The probability of success in the first drilling was never high," adding, "While it is true that the failure of the first drilling is regrettable, exploration of the remaining promising structures must continue without stopping here."

The presidential office did not issue any official statement regarding the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s announcement of failure on the 6th, and there is an atmosphere of refraining from additional comments. Some aides who had quietly held expectations for success and eagerly awaited the first results showed clear disappointment.

Last June, despite cautious voices suggesting that the announcement timing was premature, President Yoon unusually took the lead in announcing the Daewanggorae project himself. At that time, concerns were raised within some government departments about the risks of the president personally briefing on a high-risk exploratory drilling project. However, following the April 10 general election defeat, with urgent needs for a government transition and approval rating recovery, President Yoon and some aides reportedly pushed forward with the direct announcement.

Meanwhile, the ruling party still appears to keep the possibility open. Criticizing the Democratic Party of Korea for cutting the entire 49.7 billion won budget for East Sea deep-sea gas field development this year, they have expressed intentions to proceed with follow-up drilling operations and secure related budgets. Kwon Young-se, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, said regarding the Daewanggorae project, "It is necessary to conduct more drilling."

Floor leader Kwon Seong-dong also told reporters on the same day, "There are seven promising structures, and although one (Daewanggorae) was drilled and concluded not to be an economically viable field, there is no need to be disappointed," adding, "The official position of the party and government is that the remaining six should continue to be drilled from the perspective of resource development."