Fish force power plant to change name
By Kim Jae-won
Yonggwang Gulbi
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has decided to change the name of its Yonggwang Power Plant, South Jeolla Province, yielding to pressure from fishermen who catch yellow corvine and sell them under the name, Yonggwang Gulbi.
The fishermen claimed that whenever there are problems with the plant, these hit their fish sales.
Yonggwang is the name of the place where yellow corvine have been caught and sold for centuries — some top quality fish are given away as special holiday gifts. The power plant came much later.
KHNP will change the name to “Hanbit,” and that of another power plant in Ulchin, North Gyeongsang Province, to “Hanwool.”
“Our decision was made to respect residents’ demands,” said Choi Ji-hye, a spokeswoman for the company.
Residents of Uljin had also filed a petition with the company as the name of the power plant damaged the image of its crabs.
The state firm said that it accepted the requests to maintain good relations with residents, though it would cost the company hundreds of millions won.
“We will spare no effort to improve ties with residents,” shesaid.
The office of Yeounggwang County welcomed the decision, hoping the name change will revive the glory of its fish industry.
“We expect the name change to help boost sales of our dried yellow corvine. This is one of the biggest businesses here with annual sales reaching 200 billion won,” said Jeong Jin-su, an official at the office.
He also said the name change will help raise the brand image of the village’s other agricultural and fisheries products. Jeong said that residents had suffered from the bad image of nuclear power plants as they damaged the reputation of their products.