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| Hwang Il-soon, center, a professor at Seoul National University's department of nuclear engineering, speaks during a press conference at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap |
By Park Jae-hyuk
A civic group composed of nuclear experts, businesspeople, journalists and students has called for the export of nuclear power plants, Tuesday, saying the Moon Jae-in administration should abandon its anti-nuclear policies.
The group stressed exporting the nation's technical know-how is the only way to overcome economic problems.
"The size of the global energy market has already surpassed $15 trillion since 2009, so having a 1 percent market share will increase Korea's total exports by 30 percent," said Prof. Hwang Il-soon at Seoul National University's department of nuclear engineering in a press conference on the launch of the group.
"Nuclear plants in Korea have allowed 700 firms to post 25 trillion won ($23 billion) in sales and to create 35,000 decent paying jobs. If the country has a 1 percent worldwide market share, the number of jobs in the industry will be six times larger than before."
Despite the government-driven anti-nuclear measures, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu has vowed to provide full support for Korea to clinch construction orders from countries in the Middle East. He visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia this year to meet government officials there, amid fierce competition among global powerhouses for orders to build nuclear plants in those countries.
The government's double standard has caused doubt among potential clients and they may exclude Korea from bidding on their nuclear projects in the future. Also, some activists have urged the government to stop building both domestic and overseas nuclear plants.
The civic group regarded the anti-nuclear policy as a false belief resulting from an unscientific approach. Its members said the administration and its supporters must scrap the policy soon because they will realize the necessity of nuclear energy.
"Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who promoted Korean nuclear plants with the UAE, also regarded exporting nuclear plants under the anti-nuclear policy as a weird policy," said the former Prime Minister's Press Secretary Kim Chang-young. "Our future depends on nuclear power plants, and we demand the government foster technologies for both renewable energies and nuclear power."
Mentioning the construction of a nuclear power plant in North Korea after the Agreement Framework signed in Geneva in 1994, the civic group also said South Korea's technology will be able to serve as a bargaining chip for North Korea's denuclearization.
"North Korea has absolutely been short of electricity, so building nuclear plants will improve the inter-Korean relationships," said Lee Byung-ryung, a nuclear expert from the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute.
The civic group plans to hold a rally at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul next month to persuade more citizens to support the export of nuclear plants. Thirty thousand people are expected to participate, according to the group.
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