President Moon showing his political skills was able to have his cake and eat it to when it came to back tracking from his campaign pledge to stop construction of nuclear reactors in Korea:
The construction site of the Shin Kori 5 and 6 units in Ulsan, 414 kilometers south of Seoul, is shown in this picture taken on Oct. 20, 2017. (Yonhap)
President Moon Jae-in vowed to enhance the safety of nuclear reactors Sunday, accepting the recent recommendation by a public debate commission to resume the construction of two new nuclear reactors that he earlier promised to scrap.
“The government will quickly resume the construction of the Shin Kori-5 and Shin Kori-6 nuclear reactors in accordance with the outcome of the debate,” the president said in a statement released by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
The remarks came two days after the state commission, following its three-month deliberation process, recommended the two unfinished nuclear reactors be completed and put in operation.
The public debate began in July after the president agreed to first find out what the general public wished to do with the two new nuclear reactors whose construction already began in 2016.
Moon urged his supporters, as well as those who are in favor of building a nuclear energy-free nation, to accept the outcome of the public review that involved 471 citizens and experts representing both sides.
“I believe democracy becomes perfect when people have the right to discuss, and when they accept the outcome of such discussions. I also ask those who supported my election pledge to halt the construction to respect and accept the public debate commission’s recommendation,” the chief executive said.
The president said the government will instead work to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants, noting the Shin Kori reactors in Uljin will put the total number of reactors in the southeastern part of the country to 15, with millions of people to be within a 30-kilometer radius of these facilities. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but my concern about nuclear reactors in South Korea is how resilient are they to missile attack from North Korea? I really hope that was considered when these plants were built. I also wonder what the impact is to the power grid if these plants have to be shut down in response to a possible crisis with North Korea? How many people will be without power? Are there enough back generators for hospitals and other key facilities if this was to happen? Hopefully someone in the ROK government has thought these issues through.
Moon got embarrassed like a little female K9. His agenda to ruin South Korea got thrown off track, now trying to spin it like he some kind of statesman.
Moon got embarrassed like a little female K9. His agenda to ruin South Korea got thrown off track, now trying to spin it like he some kind of statesman.