As the results of the first drilling of the Blue Whale project, which President Yoon Suk-yeol personally briefed, revealed low economic feasibility, criticism poured in, especially from the opposition, questioning whether it was merely a ploy to shift the focus. In particular, the Democratic Party of Korea emphasized the 'economic loss' aspect, highlighting the fact that $40 million was spent on services from U.S. companies.
◇ Urgently decided briefing by President Yoon
The potential for oil and gas deposits on the east coast was first revealed on June 3 last year through a briefing by President Yoon. The briefing was urgently scheduled that morning, and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy An Duk-geun attended.
During the briefing, President Yoon pointed to the estimated deposit locations displayed on a monitor and said, “It is said that there is a possibility that massive amounts of oil and gas are buried just off the coast of Pohang.” After the announcement, President Yoon moved directly to attend an African summit. Minister An responded to questions from reporters, stating, “The estimated value of the deposits is five times the current market capitalization of Samsung Electronics.”
The presidential office explained that President Yoon directly addressed the issue because it deemed it a matter of significant interest that needed to be explained directly to the public.
However, some pointed out that announcing estimated deposits before confirming the reserves or economic viability was premature, suggesting that President Yoon’s 'urgent desire' to promote his achievements was clearly evident.
At that time, President Yoon's approval rating remained stagnant in the upper 20% range. During a press conference for his second anniversary in office, he apologized for the luxury bag controversy involving his wife, Kim Keon-hee, saying, 'It was an unwise behavior,' but failed to offer a satisfactory explanation, and the signs of an early lame-duck situation were becoming apparent.
The fact that President Yoon opted for a personal briefing has become a topic of discussion in political circles. It is reported that the night before the announcement, after Minister An reported the potential for deposits, President Yoon strongly expressed his intention to present the information himself.
In reality, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which was the responsible department, scrambled to explain to the media led by the second vice-minister only after President Yoon's announcement.
◇ Ruling and opposition parties engage in a war of words… 'We must continue drilling' 'Apologize for the fraudulent drilling'
Ultimately, after the government reported 'no economic viability,' the Democratic Party of Korea demanded an apology from the ruling party, calling it a 'national fraud.'
On the morning of the 7th, Representative Lee Jae-myung criticized during the Supreme Council meeting that 'we could have bought 3,000 high-spec GPUs for AI research with the money spent on a single instance of the Blue Whale fraud drilling.'
Representative Lee has been working to shed the populist image in policy areas and emphasize rationality and efficiency, highlighting that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and ruling party's poor judgment has caused social and economic harm.
He stated, '(The government) was planning to drill this (the drilling) four, five, six times,' and suggested, 'If the money had been saved, if this waste hadn’t occurred, if it had not been used for fraud, it could have possibly helped Korean AI researchers immensely if they had been provided with 3,000 high-spec GPUs at about 100 billion won right now.'
Kim Min-seok, a Supreme Council member from the same party, remarked, 'The Blue Whale was a national fraud orchestrated by the governing party and the president,' adding, 'President Yoon Suk-yeol used the budget cuts from that fraudulent activity as one of the justifications for the martial law.' He said, 'It was a larger fraud based on the initial fraud.'
He continued, 'Kwon Young-se, the chair of the People Power Party, and party members were still loudly criticizing the Democratic Party up until yesterday, vowing to maintain the budget for the Blue Whale. They should apologize to the public for the Blue Whale fraud.'
In contrast, the presidential office and the People Power Party maintain the position that 'it is premature to conclude it as a failure.'
A presidential office official dismissed the claims that the failure of the Blue Whale meant a total failure for the East Sea deep gas field, explaining, 'We still need to conduct exploration drilling for the remaining six promising structures.'
They also emphasized that successful outcomes from the first exploration drilling are extremely rare. The official noted, 'In Guyana, it took 14 times, and the East Sea gas field succeeded only after 11 exploration drillings over more than a decade.'
The People Power Party also feels it is too early to conclude it as a 'failure.'
Kwon Young-se, the People Power Party's emergency countermeasures committee chair, stated on SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' that 'If drilling produces results right away, then which country wouldn’t be a powerful oil producer?'
Floor leader Kwon Seong-dong also expressed to reporters shortly after a legislative countermeasures meeting that 'It has already been confirmed that there are seven promising blocks in the East Sea, and we shouldn’t be disappointed just because one of them was determined not to have economic viability.'
In the political arena, some pointed out that President Yoon's choice to conduct a personal briefing unnecessarily raised market expectations and led to an over-interpretation of the issue. A member of the pro-government camp stated, 'The process of the announcement itself had many opportunities for political interpretation,' adding, 'Investors’ disappointment could ultimately backfire against the ruling party at this point.'
In fact, the market is reacting even more sensitively than the political sphere. Following the announcement last May, shares of related theme stocks, such as Korea Gas Corporation, surged, but after the declaration of increased political uncertainty following the 12·3 martial law, they fell sharply, crashing after the government announced there was no economic viability.
Individual investors who bought shares related to the Blue Whale were left confused. In the investor community, complaints arose questioning whether it was a 'government-led national fraud.'