Allegations are growing that the Moon Jae-in administration secretly attempted to help North Korea start building a nuclear power plant in 2018. They are spelled out in an indictment of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officials who are accused of destroying computer files related to the controversial closure of the Wolsong-1 nuclear reactor in 2019.
According to the indictments of the officials, 17 out of the 530 files were about a government plan to assist the North in its potential bid to build a nuclear reactor. The conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP) is stepping up its offensive against the Moon government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), saying they were “benefiting the enemy” with the plan.
PPP interim leader Kim Chong-in claimed, “We cannot help but assume that the government pushed for a nuclear power plant in the North in exchange for the much-touted inter-Korean summit.” However, Cheong Wa Dae denounced Kim for trying to “delude the people” with false allegations.
Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok vowed to take all possible means, including legal action, against Kim and his party, describing the allegations as an outdated “northern winds” scheme, a term referring to political maneuvering usually by conservatives to take advantage of anti-North Korean sentiment ahead of elections. “Similar documents were already produced under the previous Park Geun-hye administration,” the DPK said in a statement. It added the people would not tolerate any attempts to fan anti-communist sentiment.
The PPP is expected to keep raising the issue in the lead-up to the April mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. Yet, the rival parties will only deepen their partisan confrontation unless the truth behind the allegations is uncovered. The government and the DPK should try to clear up the allegations by revealing all the facts about the suspicious plan to build a nuclear power plant for the North. If possible, they need to make public all details about what the documents were for, and who instructed the officials to come up with the reactor plan.
According to the indictment, the 17 documents were contained in a folder titled “pohjois” which means the “northern side” in Finnish. The file names were “Plans for the construction of a nuclear power plant in North Korea” and “White paper on the nuclear reactor.” The files were found to have been compiled from May 12 to 15, 2018, between the first and second inter-Korean summits between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The energy ministry said the documents were produced as the result of brainstorming among relevant officials amid the detente mood between the two Koreas and were not an official government dossier. Yet the ministry's explanation is insufficient. It needs to clarify why its officials destroyed the documents the night before the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) conducted an investigation into the Wolsong-1 reactor case to confirm whether they manipulated the economic value of the reactor to close it earlier than required by its lifecycle under Moon's nuclear phase-out policy. Otherwise, suspicions will grow further over the documents.